The Union Health Ministry issued an advisory to states on Monday to prevent or minimise the risk of any case or death due to mpox in the country.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has issued a surveillance strategy for the states, which includes a list of laboratories for testing, clinical management protocol and other communication strategies for infection prevention and control, the advisory stated, reported India Today.
The country has not reported any cases of mpox till now as all the samples and the suspected cases tested negative at the National Institute of Virology in Pune. However, disease surveillance will continue to monitor for the clustering of cases.
Senior officials will review public health preparedness at health facilities at the state and district levels, the advisory noted.
The ministry has instructed to identify isolation facilities in hospitals for taking care of both suspect and confirmed cases. It also asked the states to have trained human resources in such facilities.
The advisory stressed focus on disease surveillance units under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) for contact tracing.
States have been asked to pay special attention to healthcare workers, especially those in the skin and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinics to know about common signs and symptoms of mpox and actions that need to be taken after diagnosis.
The ministry has mandated screening and testing of all the suspect cases, from hospital-based surveillance to intervention sites identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
"While all states are requested to undertake appropriate activities to make communities aware about the disease, its mode of spread, need for timely reporting and preventive measures, it is crucial that any undue panic amongst the masses is prevented," the advisory read.
The World Health Organisation announced mpox as a public health emergency of international concern in August this year.