The official further informed that the samples of the girl have been collected and would be sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for testing. Additional Chief Secretary Health, Arun Kumar Singh told PTI, "the girl has been found suffering from fever with a skin rash on her body. Instructions have been given to send her samples to NIV Pune as per the protocol. Samples are also being sent to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS)." The state health department officials have been asked to monitor the situation in all the 24 districts, he said.
The Additional Chief Secretary noted that authorities of all medical colleges and district hospitals have also been directed to "keep five isolation beds ready" in each of the facilities as a precautionary measure. According to Garwah Civil Surgeon Dr Kamlesh Kumar, the girl hails from Tandwa Muhalla and has been isolated in a ward at Sadar Hospital. Notably, the girl has no travel history, and investigations are on to assess whether her fever and rash were due to any drug allergy or not.
The Additional Chief Secretary, in a letter, reportedly asked authorities of RIMS, medical colleges and civil surgeons to make people aware of the symptoms of the viral zoonotic disease as per the guidelines of the central government and the World Health Organization (WHO). As per reports, the disease has symptoms similar to smallpox, although it has less clinical severity, the letter mentioned. Four monkeypox cases have been reported in other parts of the country till July 24.
Additionally, the Union Health Ministry advised all states to direct hospitals to watch out for symptomatic patients, who have travelled to the monkeypox-affected countries recently, and isolate them at designated healthcare facilities.
(With inputs from PTI)
