Manila:

The Philippines has confirmed two more mpox virus infections of the milder clade 2 variety, its health ministry said Monday, bringing the number of active cases to three.

“We continue to see local transmission of mpox clade II here in the Philippines, in Metro Manila in particular,” Health Minister Teodoro Herbosa said in a statement.

The newly confirmed cases were a 37-year-old male in Metro Manila who had rash on his body last week and was brought to a government hospital, and a 32-year-old male from the capital who had skin lesions on his body.

The Philippines announced last week it had detected a case of the mpox virus’ milder variant in a 33-year-old male who had no travel history outside the Philippines.

The three cases this year means the Philippines has had 12 laboratory-confirmed case since July 2022.

The World Health Organization earlier this month declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest form of alert, for the second time in two years, because of an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had spread to neighbouring countries.

A new form of the virus has triggered global concern as it seems to spread easily though routine close contact.

The disease, caused by the monkeypox virus, leads to flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is usually mild but can kill, with children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, all at higher risk of complications.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

A 14-bed ward has been reserved at Seven Hills Hospital in Maharashtra’s Mumbai as a precautionary measure regarding Monkeypox infection.

There is no single case of monkeypox in the Mumbai metropolitan area, however, measures were taken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as directed by the government.

The Public Health Department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been coordinating with the Health Information Room of the International Airport.

The cases of monkeypox have been reported in Pakistan and Sweden. Considering the number of foreign visitors in the Mumbai metropolis, more precautions have been taken. No case of ‘monkeypox’ infection has been reported in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation area yet.

Speaking to ANI, Assistant Medical Superintendent Dr Pradnya Pawar said, “We have set up 14 isolation beds. We have dedicated this ward to monkeypox. We also have an ICU for monkeypox. If a monkeypox suspect with serious complications comes in, we will admit him/her there. In India, we have not seen any cases but it is assumed that there can be cases. The main symptoms are rashes, fever, cough, and soar throat. A monkeypox patient can have asymptomatic symptoms.”

Earlier on, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, has called for proactive measures to implement testing and quarantine facilities at Mumbai Airport in response to the global spread of the monkeypox (Mpox) virus.

In a letter to the state’s Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, Chavan recommended the immediate implementation of testing and quarantine facilities at Mumbai Airport for passengers arriving from high-incidence countries, a measure that was inadequately enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern. This decision comes amid a rapid surge in the spread of the disease in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its detection in neighbouring countries.

Pakistan’s federal health ministry confirmed the country’s first Mpox case. On August 16, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department confirmed two more Mpox cases in the province, as reported by the Express Tribune.

The Swedish government also confirmed its first case of Mpox, marking the first case of the variant outside Africa, according to Al Jazeera.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)