Monkeypox In Maharashtra: Nine Of Ten Samples Tested Negative For Infection

Maharashtra health department has been directed by the state government to keep a watch on the patients who have returned from the countries where Monkeypox has been reported.

New Delhi: Ten samples of suspected Monkeypox patients were sent to the National Institute of Virology, NIV, Pune of which nine samples tested negative for the viral disease, a senior health official said on Thursday, reported PTI. The test result of one patient was yet to be available, said Dr Pradeep Awate, surveillance officer for epidemic-prone diseases in Maharashtra.

The test samples were brought to the National Institute of Virology last month. So far, no case of Monkeypox has been reported in Maharashtra. 

In order to prevent harassment, the state health department hasn’t revealed the location and other details of the people whose samples were collected. The Maharashtra government recently directed doctors and health department officials to keep a watch on the patients who returned from the countries where monkeypox cases have been reported.

So far isolated cases have been reported in India. Three cases are confirmed in Kerala. All of them were reported to have returned from the UAE and showed symptoms a few days after landing in the country.

A case of Monkeypox was also reported in the national capital Sunday, but the  34-year-old man had no travel history. The man was isolated at government-run Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Hospital after he showed signs of the disease.

Director General of Health Services, DGHS, Atul Goel on Sunday reviewed the monkeypox situation in the country and directed the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to carry out a detailed epidemiological investigation of the cases.

It was highlighted that health facility teams should be on a lookout for people who complain of unexplained rash and have travelled in the last 21 days to a country that has recently confirmed cases of monkeypox.