A 34-year-old man from the national capital, with no history of foreign travel, has tested positive for monkeypox virus, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday. This is the fourth case of the disease being reported in India.
A resident of West Delhi, the man was admitted to the Maulana Azad Medical College Hospital here around three days ago after he showed symptoms of monkeypox.
His samples, which were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune on Saturday, came out positive, said the Union Ministry.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that a separate isolation ward has readied at the Lok Nayak Hospital, and that a team is working to prevent the spread.
Close contacts of the case have been identified and are under quarantine as per MoHFW guidelines.
“Further public health interventions like identification of the source of infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing sensitisation of private practitioners, are being carried out,” said the Union Health Ministry.
A high-level review of the situation has been planned by DGHS at 3 pm today.
Three cases of monkeypox has so far been detected in Kerala. On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox “a global public health emergency of international concern”.