Indian airports, borders on alert amid mpox scare, 3 Delhi hospitals identified as nodal centers

New Delhi: All the airports and authorities at land ports on borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan have been asked by the Union health ministry to be vigilant about incoming passengers reporting mpox symptoms.

The health ministry has identified Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital as the nodal centres in Delhi for the isolation, management and treatment of any mpox patient, PTI reported. The state governments have been asked by the Centre to designate hospitals which can handle such cases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) dubbed the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of global concern after the new mpox variant –Clade 1b — was detected. The outbreak started in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spread to other countries. There have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in DR Congo since the current outbreak started in January 2023, Reuters has reported.

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High-level meeting on mpox

A high-level meeting was chaired by PK Mishra, the principal secretary to the PM, on Sunday. The meeting took stock of the country’s preparedness for mpox and surveillance to detect any cases. No case of mpox has been reported in the country till now. According to officials, the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low in India as per current assessment.

All officials have been asked by the health ministry to step up surveillance and take measures to detect mpox cases quickly. The network of testing laboratories should be ready so that early diagnosis of the infection is possible. There are currently 32 laboratories in India which can test mpox.

On Sunday, Mishra said protocols to prevent and treat the disease should be disseminated on a large scale. He emphasised the significance of an awareness campaign among healthcare providers about mpox signs and symptoms and the need for timely notification to the surveillance system.

Since 2022, at least 30 mpox cases have been reported from India. The last case of mpox was detected in March 2024.