New Delhi: There is no reported case of Mpox in India right now, but the Union Health ministry doesn’t want to be caught napping, especially after World Health Organization (WHO) declared the dreaded virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) earlier this week.
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare JP Nadda on Saturday had a meeting with senior officials on Saturday and conducted a detailed review of the Mpox situation and preparedness.
It was decided that as a matter of abundant caution, certain measures be put in place such as — sensitising the health units at all airports, seaports and ground crossings; readying the 32 testing laboratories, gearing up health facilities for detecting, isolating and managing any case.
The meeting noted that Mpox infections are usually self-limiting, and last between 2 to 4 weeks, with patients generally recovering with supportive management.
Transmission of the virus requires prolonged close contact with an infected case and is generally through the sexual route, direct contact with body/lesion fluid, or contaminated clothing/linen of an infected person.
WHO had earlier declared Mpox (known as Monkeypox then) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in July 2022, subsequently revoked it in May 2023.
Since 2022, WHO has a record of 99,176 cases and 208 deaths globally across 116 countries due to Mpox.
In India, 30 cases were detected, most of them in Kerala. The last case was in March 2024.
On August 16, a Joint Monitoring Group Meeting under the Chairmanship of Director General of Health Services and consisting of experts from relevant fields was held to review the Mpox situation.
Experts from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), WHO, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Directorate General of Health Services (Dte.GHS), Central Government Hospitals, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) attended the meeting.
Though there is the possibility of a few imported cases being detected in the next few weeks, it was assessed that the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is presently low for India.
The Health ministry is monitoring the situation closely.
