PremiumIshwar Gilada stressed on the fact that nobody can say that a virus will become a pandemic. He cited the case of the coronavirus which spread from a city in China- Wuhan to the whole world, bringing it to a pause for two years
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Virologist Dr Ishwar Gilada, who is a globally acclaimed HIV expert, credited with bringing India on the AIDS control map of the world, on Saturday pointed out that there is a need to study the monkeypox outbreak that has been surging in Europe and America.
Gilada stressed on the fact that nobody can say that a virus will become a pandemic. He cited the case of the coronavirus which spread from a city in China- Wuhan to the whole world, bringing it to a pause for two years.
“No one can say for a fact that a virus will become pandemic. Especially after Covid, which travelled from one small city to world, halting it for two years. But there isn't a need to panic. Need is to study", Gilada said to news agency ANI.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has directed the National Centre for Disease Control and the ICMR to keep a close watch on the situation.
World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted an outbreak of Monkeypox. The UN Health Agency had called for an emergency meeting to discuss the new virus that UKHSA has warned was spreading amongst gay men.
WHO confirmed 80 cases of monkeypox in 11 countries so far. "There are about 80 confirmed cases so far, and 50 pending investigations. More cases are likely to be reported as surveillance expands," it added.
The WHO said the monkeypox is endemic in some animal populations in several countries, leading to occasional outbreaks among local people and travellers. The WHO has said they are studying the rare disease to understand the extent and cause of the outbreak.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.