Chennai, July 25 (BPNS)

The Tamil Nadu state police and health department have heightened the surveillance at International airports in the state after monkey pox diseases have surfaced in Kerala and New Delhi. The state health department has set up surveillance teams at all four airports in the state to screen the passengers who are reaching the state from international destinations.

It may be noted that in Kerala, all the three confirmed cases of monkeypox were people who reached the state from middle eastern countries. With a huge Tamil diaspora working in several foreign countries, the state health department wants to ensure that the people who are reaching the state are properly screened.

Medical experts are however of the opinion that even though the surveillance at the airports is increased to prevent the entry of any monkeypox infected to the state, the state is lacking in hospital-based screening.

A senior doctor of Tamil Nadu medical service while speaking to BPNS said, “ While the screening is taking place at the international airports as well as in the districts bordering Kerala, it is high time that we commence screening for monkeypox at all the district hospitals in the state especially those who have skin lesions.”

The state public health department has in a statement said that the health department has been conducting routine surveillance for all infectious diseases through the Integrated Health Information Policy (IHIP) portal of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

The Tamil Nadu government has also decided to screen train passengers from Kerala in the days to come as also those arriving in the state from Kerala by flight. Presently the Tamil Nadu health department is screening people in 13 regions bordering Kerala for fever with lesions.