(MENAFN- Live Mint) Mpox: The Indian government has directed authorities at international airports and ports to monitor passengers entering the country from Bangladesh and Pakistan for mpox symptoms, PTI reported citing sources from the Union health Ministry.
India so far has no detected cases of mpox , officials told PTI, adding that current assessment shows that the risk of a large outbreak of the disease, with with sustained transmission is low.
An official told PTI,“The virus strain this time is different and is more virulent and infectious. But the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low in the country as per the current assessment.”
Mpox is not airborne and usually spreads through close, skin-to-skin contact between people.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DNC or Congo) has reported the majority of mpox globally and requires 3 million vaccine doses to tackle its outbreak, AP reported.
Congo's Health Minister Roger Kamba told the media that the United States and Japan have offered to donate vaccines , and said the first consignment from the US is expected next week. He did not specify how many vaccines doses are expected or when the delivery from Japan would arrive, the AP report added.
New Strain Found, 4 New Countries Identify Cases
Last week, a new variant of the mpox virus was detected in Sweden and while officials said risk to general public is“low”, they expect“sporadic imported cases to continue”, AP reported.
Notably, scientists are also concerned about a new mpox variant in Congo that“might be more easily transmitted”, the report added.
The new variants, caused milder symptoms and lesions on the genitals, unlike previous mpox outbreaks, where lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet. This makes it harder to detect and people may infect others without being aware that they themselves are infected.
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