Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan has said that those who are suspected to have contracted monkeypox should be isolated in designated health facilities and their samples sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for testing.
The Health Department of Tamil Nadu has issued an advisory to the Collectors and Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation, asking them to look for persons displaying symptoms of infection.
Over the past several weeks, cases have been reported in Canada, Australia, the United States and some European countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said in its advisory that people who had traveled to African countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Nigeria had returned with the infection.
In a letter, Dr. Radhakrishnan has shared the event summary from the WHO, apart from the advisory on infection from the National Center for Disease Control under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
He said that public health officials have been made vulnerable to the infection. Health facilities should “raise suspicion” for people who presented themselves with an unexplained rash and who had traveled to a country with recent confirmed or suspected cases, or for 21 days before coming into contact with infected individuals had traveled. Such cases should be isolated in designated health facilities and the patients should be reported to the District Surveillance Officer of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. Samples should be sent to the National Institute of Virology.
In the event of a person testing positive, the health authorities should immediately trace and identify all the persons who came in contact with the infected person in the last 21 days. Health officials will have to follow safety protocols while taking samples.
Dr. Radhakrishnan also urged the officials to update themselves about the advisory and ensure that the monitoring is followed faithfully.