Monkeypox Cases Reported In Tamil Nadu? Health Minister Issues Statement

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Friday issued statement amid reports that four monkeypox cases were reported in the state.

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Friday refuted claims of monkeypox cases being reported in the state. Subramanian said fake news is being circulated that four monkeypox cases were reported in Tamil Nadu, adding that “not a single monkeypox case has been recorded” in the state.

“Not even a single monkeypox case in Tamil Nadu. Fake news is circulating on social media that 4 monkeypox cases confirmed in Nagercoil. Don’t believe fake news. If we find any such case, we’ll tell media to make people aware of the disease,” Tamil Nadu Health Minister Subramanian was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Monkeypox in India – What do we know so far

• Four confirmed cases of Monkeypox disease – three from Kerala and one from Delhi – have been reported in the country so far. The Delhi patient, who tested positive for monkeypox, has no history of foreign travel.
• The Delhi man has no history of international travel, but he did attend a stag party in Manali in Himachal Pradesh recently, sources were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
• Another suspected monkeypox patient, admitted at the LNJP Hospital, tested negative for the disease and was discharged from the hospital.
• The suspected patient, a resident of Ghaziabad who had now tested negative for monkeypox, was brought to the hospital by the surveillance team after he developed fever and skin lesions while in Delhi, the senior doctor said.
• The LNJP Hospital, which was the nerve centre of the national capital’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, also has constituted a 20-member team comprising dermatologists.
• No death due to Monkeypox disease has been reported in the country, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Lok Sabha on Friday.

What is monkeypox – Key symptoms

• 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.
• Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting two to four weeks. It typically presents itself with fever, headache, rashes, sore throat, cough and swollen lymph nodes.

Brief: No monkeypox cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu. India has so far confirmed only four cases of monkey – three in Kerala and one in Delhi.