Monkeypox: Mysuru steps up vigil, screening at border checkposts

S Ramesh
Mysuru: In the wake of first monkeypox case being confirmed in the neighbouring state of Kerala, Mysuru district administration has stepped vigil to prevent the spread.
As the Union government has issued an advisory to the Karnataka and Kerala governments on Thursday on detecting and curbing the infection, the health department officials intensified screening along the borders.
A team of health department officials led by H D Kote taluk health officer Dr T Ravikumar inspected and supervised the screening of persons arriving in Karnataka at the interstate check post in the taluk on Friday.
Dr Ravikumar said that the health department officials will screen the patients arriving from Kerala having symptoms like fever, sores, rashes on their skin at D K Kuppe primary health centre at the border regularly. “Instructions have been given to D K Kuppe health department officials to regularly send the reports of patients they had screened and share other information on a daily basis to the taluk health office as well as the district surveillance office,” he said.
He said that monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.
D K Kuppe PHC health officer Dr Dinesh, panchayat development officer Swamy, health inspector T Raviraj, sub-inspector Mahadevaswamy, Saragur Vivekananda Youth Movement Hospital staff and others were present during the inspection, he said.