• Source:JND
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Mpox Scare: In the wake of the global Mpox scare, the centre has asked all airports as well as authorities at land ports in Bangladesh and Pakistan to remain alert on the arrival of international passengers, Health Ministry officials said on Sunday. Further, three Delhi hospitals - Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge - have been selected as the nodal centres to deal with cases of Mpox in the national capital, with facilities to isolate, manage and treat any patient with the deadly disease.

Union Health Ministry has also asked all the state governments to identify hospitals in their jurisdiction to manage Mpox cases. This comes as India remained free from any case of the globally rising infection.

This comes four days after WHO declared Mpox, a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Notably, the infection witnessed a sharp rise globally after it was detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). After several African countries reported infections of the deadly disease, Sweden became the first non-African country to report a case of Mpox.

Later, Pakistan reported the first-ever case of the infection on August 16, however, no immediate clarity was available on the nature of the strain of the virus.

Is India Prepared To Deal With Mpox

Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, PK Mishra, chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the country's preparedness for Mpox amid enhanced surveillance for prompt detection.

“The virus strain this time is different and is more virulent and infectious. But the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low in the country as per the current assessment,” an official source said.

Currently, there are about 32 laboratories equipped to test the deadly disease, a PTI report stated.

In the past year, there was a noticeable rise in the number of reported cases globally. As of this year, the total number of cases has already surpassed last year’s count, reaching over 15,600 cases and resulting in 537 fatalities.

Since 2022, India has reported thirty cases of Mpox, with the most recent one being identified in March 2024.