Monkeypox: Health Ministry asks states to screen, isolate patients

The health ministry has asked states to start screening at points of entries, contact-tracing, and undertake surveillance activities following detection of a case

As the first suspected case of monkeypox is reported from Kerala, the Union Health Ministry wrote to states asking them to proactively work on public health response against the disease.

The Centre had already issued guidelines for monkeypox disease management on May 31 amid rising cases across the globe. On Thursday, agencies reported that a person who returned from overseas has been admitted to hospital after he showed signs of monkeypox. The samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing. Health Minister Veena George said the person concerned was in close contact with a monkeypox patient