A day after India’s first monkeypox case was detected in Kerala, the state government on Friday put five districts on high alert and asked all big hospitals to set aside sufficient isolation beds in case of an emergency.
The five districts – Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam – were put on alert since a majority of the infected person’s co-passengers on the Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram flight that landed on July 12 hailed from these areas.
After chairing a meeting of officials, Kerala health minister Veena George said that the condition of the 35-year-old infected person is stable and none of his immediate contacts showed any symptoms of the disease so far.
“Passengers who travelled in this flight will have to monitor their health condition strictly and if they develop any symptoms, they should report immediately. There were 164 passengers and six crew members on board. We are yet to get the details of all passengers,” she said, assuring that there was no need to panic.
A four-member central team, led by Dr P Ravindran, has been sent to the southern state.
Though the government on Thursday claimed that all immediate contacts of the infected persons were traced and quarantined, some glitches came to light on Friday after Kollam collector Afsana Parveen claimed that district authorities are yet to trace drivers of the car and auto-rickshaw the infected had travelled in.
There were also reports that the private hospital in Kollam where he approached first failed to inform higher authorities about it. But the hospital later held a press conference and claimed that they informed the district medical officer immediately after the patient informed them about his contact in the UAE had contracted the disease.
The health ministry said that it will prepare a fresh route map of the patient. There is also criticism about how he came out of the airport despite showing clear symptoms. After the Union health ministry issued directives, surveillance at all four international airports in Kerala has been tightened.
