The government of West Bengal has asked hospitals in the state to set up separate facilities for accommodating monkeypox patients from abroad, officials said on Friday.
According to the department’s advisory, hospitals should keep isolation beds ready and send samples from suspected patients to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology.
Although monkeypox has not been reported in India, new cases have been detected from other countries, so chances of monkeypox spreading to India cannot be ruled out, the advisory said.
In addition to all district administrations and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the note was sent to all medical college superintendents.
In India, there is no evidence of monkeypox virus in any body, but we should remain cautious, according to ICMR director-general Samiran Panda.
If someone is coming from a foreign country or abroad and shows symptoms such as fever and headache, they should be isolated.”