Kerala equipped to tackle monkeypox; no need to panic, state health minister says

Citizens do not need to be concerned about monkeypox and Kerala is equipped to deal with the disease, the state’s health minister said today, even as the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak as a global emergency for spreading to about 68 countries.

Kerala had reported India’s first three cases of monkeypox in persons who had travelled from overseas. However, Delhi yesterday reported the country's fourth case in a person who had no immediate foreign travel history.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said testing and surveillance have been intensified across the state and those among the primary contacts of the three infected persons in the state have tested negative. The disease was not highly infectious, she added.


However, people, especially those with a foreign travel history, need to be cautious and alert, she said and added that the health professionals and workers in the state have been given training to identify and deal with monkeypox cases.




Directions have been issued to health authorities across the state to be vigilant, she said.

The health condition of the three persons who tested positive for the disease in the state was stable, the minister said.

The first case of monkeypox, a rare but potentially serious viral illness, in the state as well as the country was reported from Kollam district of south Kerala on July 14.

According to WHO, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals), with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.

With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.

(With inputs from PTI)