India has confirmed the second case of monkeypox in Kannur district of Kerala. Due to this, the Centre has directed all state airport and port health officers to ensure health screening of all international travellers to prevent the spread of the infection.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also reviewed the functioning of health screening of international travellers arriving in India at airports and ports. The Ministry has issued guidelines that international passengers should avoid close contact with sick people and with dead or alive wild animals. It also ensured suitable linkages with hospital facilities earmarked to each port of entry for timely referral and isolation.
Monkeypox is supposed to be caused by a virus transmitted to humans from animals with symptoms similar to smallpox but clinically less severe according to the World Health Organization.
