India reported its first monkeypox case in the southwestern state of Kerala on Thursday, reports the Times Now news channel.
It came mere hours after the federal Health Ministry asked states to increase surveillance on the zoonotic disease. Monkeypox cases have been reported in many countries across the world.
"A monkeypox positive case has been reported. He is a traveller from UAE. He reached the state on July 12. He reached Trivandrum airport and all the steps are being taken as per the guidelines issued by WHO and ICMR," said Kerala Health Minister Veena George.
Following the development, the ministry is now set to deploy a multi-disciplinary Central team to support the Kerala government in probing the outbreak and instituting requisite health measures. This team will depart at the latest by Friday.
Earlier in the day, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had written to all states and union territories (UTs) reiterated that there should be a rigorous surveillance system at all points of entry to quickly identify and isolate suspected cases.
"Continued expansion of spread of monkeypox disease globally calls for proactive strengthening and operationalisation of requisite public health actions for preparedness and response against the disease in lndia also," he wrote.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said Thursday it would reconvene its expert monkeypox committee on July 21 to decide whether the outbreak constitutes a global health emergency.
A second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on monkeypox will be held, with the UN health agency now aware of 9,200 cases in 63 countries at the last update issued Tuesday.
A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
On June 23, the WHO convened an emergency committee of experts to decide if monkeypox constitutes a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) -- the highest alarm that the WHO can sound.
But a majority advised the WHO's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the situation, at that point, had not met that threshold.
Now a second meeting will be held, with case numbers rising.
"The emergency committee will provide its views to the WHO director general on whether the event constitutes a PHEIC," the UN health agency said in a statement.
"If so, it will propose temporary recommendations on how to better prevent and reduce the spread of the disease and manage the global public health response."
A statement will be issued in the days following the meeting.
