New Delhi: Monkeypox has been confirmed in the national capital. A 31-year-old man who is being treated at Maulana Abdul Kalam Hospital has been diagnosed with the disease. The fact that he has not traveled abroad has caused concern.
So far in India monkeypox was only in Kerala. Kollam, Kannur, and Malappuram natives who came from abroad were earlier diagnosed with the disease.
If the disease has been reported outside Kerala and a person with no history of foreign travel has become ill, the Union Health Ministry may suggest stricter surveillance and vigilance.
A global health emergency has been declared due to the spread of monkeypox. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the World Health Organization.
16,000 cases have been reported in 75 countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Monkeypox, which broke out in Africa in the mid-1950s, has traveled internationally and reached the 21st century.