Baby girl suspected to have contracted Monkeypox tests negative in Andhra

Vijayawada, July 17: A two-year-old girl was suspected to have contracted monkeypox in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh but a blood test at the National Institute of Virology in Pune confirmed it to be negative.

Days after India reported its first Monkeypox, the child has been admitted to a hospital with monkeypox-like symptoms in Vijayawada.

State Director of Health J Nivas said the two-year-old child returned to Vijayawada from Dubai and found to have developed blisters on her hands.

She was admitted to the Government General Hospital and kept in isolation as a precaution, along with her family members on Sunday.

"We sent the baby's blood sample by flight to NIV-Pune for analysis and it turned negative for monkeypox," Nivas said in a release. The baby's family did not come into contact with anyone else, he added. "There are no cases of monkeypox in AP. There is nothing to worry," Nivas told PTI.

India on Thursday reported its first monkeypox case in Kerala - a 35-year-old man who returned from the UAE.

"One case of monkeypox has been confirmed. We are taking steps to ensure it does not spread to others. There are 11 primary contacts which include his parents, those who sat next to him in the plane, the taxi driver who took him from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam, the auto driver who took him to the hospital and the cabin crew of the flight. We are informing all of them," Kerala Health Minister Veena George told reporters.

The Centre is taking proactive steps by monitoring the situation carefully and coordinating with states in case of any such possibility of outbreak occurs and sent a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Kerala to collaborate with the State Health Authorities in instituting public health measures in view of the confirmed case of monkeypox in Kollam district.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's health ministry on Saturday boosted its health surveillance at the airport after its bordering state, Kerala, reported its first case of monkeypox, confirming the viral's first case in India.

Monkeypox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a viral zoonotic disease, meaning that it can spread from animals to humans. It can also spread between people.