Monkeypox outbreak: Karnataka health minister says 'we need to be vigilant'

Bengaluru, Aug 11: Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday said the state is keeping an eye on ports and airports and continuously monitoring as neighbouring Kerala reported fifth case of the viral disease.

"Neighbouring state Kerala has about 5 cases and Delhi has 4. Since we share borders with Kerala we need to be vigilant," Sudhakar said.

Talking about the safety precautions being taken by the state government to control Monkeypox and Covid-19, Sudhakar said, "We're trying to ensure all infections including covid, vector-borne diseases, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, keep at a minimum. We're taking necessary measures in regional areas to prevent their spread."

India has reported nine cases of monkeypox and one death so far.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology recently analysed two monkeypox cases of travellers who had returned from the UAE.

The analysis showed that two cases were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2, which is related to the lineage of hMPXV-1A clade 3.