Health dept. issues advisory on monkeypox

EM Bureau
Dimapur, July 18 (EMN): As India reported its second confirmed case of monkeypox on Monday, with the test result of one patient from Kannur in Kerala, who landed at the Mangalore airport in coastal Karnataka from Dubai on July 13, returning positive for the disease, the department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Nagaland, issued an advisory in the public interest.

Issued by Dr. K Vikato Kinimi, Principal Director, department of Health and Family Welfare, the advisory informed that Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in Central and West Africa and come from the virus family called Orthopoxvirus.

“Monkeypox is a viral infection that originated in rodents and primates and transmitted to people. It was found in Africa, mostly around tropical rainforest regions but has now spreading across the world especially in Western countries,” read the advisory.

The advisory issued by the Health department included mode of transmission, symptoms, guidelines etc. Here are the details:

Transmission from animals to human

• Typically, the virus is transmitted by contact with an infected animal's body secretions or a bite.

Transmission from human to human

• Direct physical contact: contact with bodily fluids, sexual contact or lesion material.
• Indirect contact: through contaminated clothing or linens of affected person.
• Large respiratory droplets as a result of prolonged close contact.

Common symptoms of monkeypox

• Fever
• Skin rashes (starting from face spreading to arms, legs, palms and soles).
• Lymph node enlargement.
• Headache, muscle ache or exhaustion.
• Sore throat and cough.

Possible complications

• Pain in the eyes or blurry vision.
• Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing.
• Chest pain.
• Altered consciousness and seizures,
• Decrease in urine output.

High-risk populations

• Persons with significant co-morbidities.