Thiruvananthapuram, July 15 (BPNS)
Following the nation’s first monkeypox virus confirmation from Kerala, an alert has been sounded across the state by the health department. Five districts namely, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Kottayam were issued with a special alert upon the suspicion that some persons from these districts had contact with the positive case as flight travelers.
It was on Thursday that the National Institute of Virology, Pune confirmed that a person – a Kollam native – who arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on July 12 – is having monkeypox virus. So far a total of 16 persons were identified as high-risk contacts and were isolated. Along with that those at the emigration clearance counter and those who handled the baggage of the positive case were also put under surveillance.
According to state health minister Veena George, the positive case’s health condition is satisfactory. She also added that those who traveled along with the positive case are being monitored daily and so far the situation is under control.
“There is nothing to be panicked about. The health department is managing the situation well,” she said.
The minister further added, “The positive case had arrived here in the Sharjah- Thiruvananthapuram Indigo flight (6E 1402) at 5 pm on July 12. His seat number is 30C. In that flight, 164 passengers and six cabin crew members traveled. A total of 11 passengers who had close contact with the positive case were included in the high-risk category list. Everyone on that flight was asked to self-monitor and seek medical attention if having any symptoms within 21 days of travel.”
Other than the 11 passengers on the high-risk list, the patient’s parents, auto/taxi drivers, and a dermatologist from a private hospital were also included.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
The health ministry in a guideline released in May said that the incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days. It also cited two modes of transmission – human to human transmission and animal to human transmission.
If a person has a travel history to affected countries within the last 21 days and presents with an unexplained acute rash and one or more of the signs or symptoms including swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, body aches, and profound weakness, it is listed as a suspected case. A case that is laboratory confirmed for monkeypox virus (by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing) is categorized as a confirmed case.
