New Delhi(India): The fourth case of monkeypox has been reported in India’s national capital Delhi in a person with no history of foreign travel. Local media have said that the federal health ministry has asked the Delhi government to trace the 34-year-old’s contacts.
States have been asked to “close surveillance” for the virus. The government has also issued preventive guidelines regarding this disease.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the patient in the city is stable and recovering from the infection.
“There is no need to panic,” he added.
The first three cases in India were reported from the southern state of Kerala – all of them had travelled to the state recently from countries in the Gulf region.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The WHO assesses that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high,” he said. There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added.
Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe and experts say chances of infection are low.
The virus spreads when someone is in close contact with an infected person. The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, the eyes, nose or mouth.
Symptoms of monkeypox?
Initial symptoms include fever, headache, swelling, back pain and muscle aches.
Once the fever breaks, a rash may develop, often beginning on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body, usually the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
The rash, which can be extremely itchy or painful, changes and goes through various stages before eventually becoming a scab, which then falls off. Wounds can cause scarring.
The infection usually clears up on its own and lasts between 14 and 21 days.