After 2 Monkeypox Cases, Centre Asks For Strict Screening Of Passengers

The Centre on Monday asked ports and airports to ensure strict health screening of all international travellers to contain the spread of monkeypox on the day India reported its second case from Kerala.

The meeting was attended by airport and port health officers and regional directors from regional offices of Health & Family Welfare, the government said in a statement.

"They were advised to ensure strict health screening of all arriving international travellers which can minimize the risk of importation of monkeypox cases into the country. They were advised and re-oriented in clinical presentation of monkeypox disease as per MoHFW's 'Guidelines for Management of Monkeypox Disease'," it said.

They were also advised to coordinate with other stakeholder agencies like immigration at international ports and airports to streamline health screening processes.

Earlier today, a 31-year-old man from Kerala tested positive for monkeypox. He is being treated at Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur and is stable, the state health department has confirmed.

Last week, a man who had returned to Kerala from the UAE had tested positive for monkeypox.

The World Health Organization or WHO said Thursday it would reconvene its expert monkeypox committee on July 21 to decide whether the outbreak constitutes a global health emergency.

According to available statistics, almost all patients affected thus far are male, with a median age of 37, with three-fifths identifying as men who have sex with men, the WHO has said.

The symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

It was first found in monkeys in 1958, hence the name. Rodents are now seen as the main source of transmission. It spreads through close contact, both from animals and, less commonly, between humans.