'Don't panic, best team is on to prevent spread': Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: After Delhi reported the first case of Monkeypox on Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked people not to panic and assured them that the 'best team is on the case to prevent the spread of the virus'.

He said that separate isolation wards have been made at LNJP hospital for Monkeypox-infected patients.

"First case of Monkeypox detected in Delhi. The patient is stable and recovering. There's no need to panic. The situation is under control. We have made a separate isolation ward at LNJP. Our best team is on the case to prevent the spread and protect Delhiites," tweeted Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi has reported the first case of Monkeypox in a 34-year-old man with no travel history. This is the fourth case of the viral disease in India and the first case without a travel history.

He was admitted to the hospital with fever and skin lesions. However, the patient is stable. Earlier the cases in India were among nationals who returned home from the Middle East, while in Thailand an international living in the country has been confirmed positive for Monkeypox.

The first case of Monkeypox virus originated in India on July 14 after a UAE traveller returned to Kerala. He has been admitted to Thiruvananthapuram medical college. India reported its second case of monkeypox in Kerala's Kannur district on July 18.

While on July 22 India reported its third case of monkeypox in Kerala's Malappuram district. Earlier on Saturday, World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern, looking at the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern."

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonotic infection caused by the monkeypox virus. It spreads mostly from human contact.

Expressing concern over rapidly spreading cases of Monkeypox, the first Indian elected as Regional Director of World Health Organization South-East Asia Region said that with cases concentrated among men who have sex with men, it is possible to curtail further spread of the disease with focused efforts among the at-risk population.

"Monkeypox has been spreading rapidly and to many countries that have not seen it before, which is a matter of great concern. However, with cases concentrated among men who have sex with men, it is possible to curtail further spread of the disease with focused efforts among the at-risk population," WHO Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said in a statement.

The World Health Organization on Sunday called on countries in South - East Asia Region to strengthen surveillance and public health measures for monkeypox, with the disease being declared a public health emergency of international concern.

More than 16000 cases of Monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries including four from India, and one from Thailand.

Monkeypox virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans via indirect or direct contact.

Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and respiratory droplets.

In the current outbreak countries and amongst the reported Monkeypox cases, transmission appears to be occurring primarily through close physical contact, including sexual contact.

Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linens, bedding, electronics, and clothing, that have infectious skin particles.