Uttarakhand on alert: National Health Mission issues guidelines on Monkeypox

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], August 2 : Uttarakhand Health Department on Tuesday issued an advisory to all the District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers of the state regarding Monkeypox.
The Director of the National Health Mission, R Rajesh Kumar issued orders instructing officials to strictly monitor the situation, strengthen surveillance and to keep the health system on alert mode.
Till date no case of monkeypox has been reported in Uttarakhand, however, this advisory is issued as a precautionary measure from the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Some public health actions have been recommended including surveillance strengthening to rapidly identify cases and clusters of infections and contain transmission of infections as soon as possible and using Standard Case Definitions (enclosed) by all District Surveillance Units (DSUS) under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
It is directed that even one case of monkeypox should be considered an outbreak and any suspected case should be reported immediately to the District Surveillance Units or State Surveillance Units (SSUs) and the further process of sampling, tracing and testing should follow after the detection of a confirmed case.
Core Surveillance Strategy to be put in place including hospital-based surveillance and targeted surveillance that can be achieved by Measles surveillance by the Immunization division and targeted intervention sites identified by NACO for MSM, FSW population.
A preventive strategy including isolating cases to prevent further transmission, providing optimal clinical care, identifying and managing contacts, protecting frontline health workers and effective control and preventive measures based on the identified routes of transmission has been directed.
Lab Diagnosis, contact tracing, capacity building, awareness generation regarding safe sex practices, self-reporting of symptoms and preventive measures against Monkeypox are some of the measures directed to be taken as part of the preventive strategies.
It is also directed to take necessary action regarding the prevention and control of Monkeypox.
Earlier today, third case of Monkeypox has been reported in the capital, taking the tally in India to eight.
On July 30, the first death of Monkeypox was reported in the country. A 22-year-old man, who had tested positive for Monkeypox in UAE arrived in India on July 22 and was admitted to a hospital on July 27 after again testing positive for Monkeypox.
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. The disease is endemic in regions like West and Central Africa but lately, cases have been reported from non-endemic countries too, according to the WHO.