Govt holds high-level review meet on monkeypox after reports fourth positive case

The Union ministry of health and family welfare on Sunday said a high-level review meeting on the monkeypox disease was being held by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) with the detection of the fourth case of the virus in the country.Earlier in the day, Delhi reported its first case of the zoonotic infection after a 31-year-old man with no likely history of foreign travel tested positive for the virus. The resident of west Delhi is undergoing treatment at the state-run LNJP hopsital.

In a statement, the Union health ministry said, "A 34-year-old male resident of Delhi was isolated at Lok Nayak Hospital as a suspected case of Monkeypox. A confirmation of the diagnosis has been done by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune."The patient is presently recovering at a designated isolation centre at the Lok Nayak Hospital, while his close contacts who have been identified are under quarantine as per the MoHFW guidelines, it added. Notably, the LNJP is the nodal hospital for monkeypox in the national capital.The 31-year-old resident of west Delhi tested positive for the zoonotic disease despite having no recent foreign travel history, senior health officials confirmed.They further revealed that the man began showing initial symptoms at least 10 days before. He had first developed fever and in the consequent days started showing skin lesions. He was admitted to the LNJP's isolation ward on Friday, and his samples were confirmed being monkeypox positive from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, earlier today.With the latest case from Delhi, India so far has reported four cases of monkeypox. The remaining three have been found in Kerala, with all being UAE returnees.Over 17,000 cases of monkeypox virus have been reported in 75 countries so far. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday declared the zoonotic disease as a public health emergency. At a press briefing, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “too little” is understood about the virus.