The Department of Health and Family Welfare here is on a general alert following detection of a suspected case of monkeypox. This is the first suspected case reported in the district.
The young patient from the district, who is suspected to have developed symptoms of monkeypox, has been isolated and his family members and other close contacts are under observation.
However, none of the patient’s family members is symptomatic to the disease but were under surveillance as per the WHO guidelines, according to the department.
A private medical practitioner in the city alerted the department, suspecting the symptoms to be of monkeypox.
“The patient was under treatment for over a week at a local clinic. The patient did not recover from the flu-like symptoms in spite of being under medication. On suspicion, the case was referred to us. We too are now suspecting it to be a case of monkeypox and the samples have been collected for lab investigation. It may take a few days for the results to come. We are on alert in the wake of the suspected case,” said District Health Officer Dr. K.H. Prasad.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Prasad said the patient had no travel history as per the statement of the family. “We are ascertaining the cause of the infection since the patient did not go out of his hometown. We are also getting in touch with the patient’s contacts and places he visited. Our teams are on the job since the disease was contagious,” the DHO said.
Usually in monkeypox, lacerations appear on the face after a few days of fever and spread to the body, particularly the palms. Fever and headache are among the general symptoms of the disease, he said.
Dr. Prasad said the samples of the pus from the lesions would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Bengaluru for confirmation, on Thursday.
