India on alert as monkeypox spreads in Europe

NEW DELHI, May 23: As monkeypox spreads fast in Europe and other Western countries, India has put its airports on high alert to prevent the epidemic from spreading here.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the ICMR have also been told to watch out. In case suspected cases are found, samples will be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirmation. However, there are reports that the Asian environment is not congenial for the transmission of monkeypox virus.

In appearance somewhat similar to smallpox, monkeypox is a rare viral infection. In the current outbreak, it was reported first in a traveller from Nigeria to the UK on May 7 and has by now spread to all over Europe and other Western countries. However, no casualty has been reported so far.

Hundreds of cases have been reported from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Israel.

Although it does not spread like covid (SARS-COV-2), monkeypox like in smallpox, shows symptoms of fever, chickenpox-like rashes, chills, enlarged lymphs, but rarely posing threat to life. The incubation period ranges from six to 13 days normally. The fatality rate is 3-6 per cent. Symptoms can last two to four weeks. Monkeypox virus belongs to the family of smallpox and cowpox called Poxviridae.

Monkeypox is transmitted from person to person through physical contact with the lesions and body fluids. Fomites too can pass on the virus.

In monkeypox there is no instance of inapparent infection unlike covid which claimed millions of lives in the last two years of the pandemic merely because of this character of the virus which the Governments across the world failed in their primary duty of educating their peoples about. Not a fraction would have died!!!

So that means it is easier to check transmission of monkeypox as only symptomatic people can spread it. Let us also note that logically, symptomatic people take precautions or they are too sick to be out and about to give to others.

And, monkeypox is also responsive to available anti-viral drugs. There are also effective vaccines to help prevent infection although they are not specific to the virus in question. All in all, there was no need to spread a PR scare that the WHO did. In today's world, it is wasteful to feed this outfit and its elite occupants anymore with the poor peoples' money. No purpose is served, fold up.

All infectious diseases are not contagious diseases. Contagious diseases require physical contact with a patient, the virus or fomites. This is also called direct transmission. In other words, all infections are not by direct transmission. Therefore monkeypox is a contagious disease while malaria is not. To contract malaria one needs to be bitten by an infected mosquito that carries the parasite known as Plasmodium. It does not spread from person to person contact. So also food poisoning, another example. There are four categories of infectious agents (pathogens) causing infectious diseases. They are bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

The first case of monkeypox was detected in human beings in 1970 in Africa, where there were periodic occurrences among monkeys and so it got the name monkeypox.