The Union Health Ministry on Sunday officially confirmed the first case of monkeypox in Delhi, saying that the 34-year-old male patient is presently isolated at the Lok Nayak Hospital in the national capital.
In a statement, the Ministry said the confirmation of the diagnosis has been done by National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune."The patient is presently recovering at a designated isolation centre at the Lok Nayak Hospital. Close contacts have been identified are under quarantine as per the MoHFW guidelines," it added.
As per the Ministry guidelines, public health interventions like identification of the source of infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing sensitisation of private practitioners, are being carried out.
In connection with the first case reported in the capital city, a high-level review of the situation will also take place on Sunday.With this, India's overall monkeypox case tally has increased to four.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern.The global health body said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an "extraordinary" situation that now qualifies as a global emergency.