New Delhi, Sept 27: The Union Health Ministry has released an advisory to all states and union territories concerning Mpox disease after India reported a case of clade 1b infection, making it the third non-African country to do so.
In the advisory dated September 26, the Department of Health and Family Welfare mandates the isolation of suspected Mpox cases and the implementation of strict infection control measures.
Included in the advisory are a list of designated laboratories for testing, clinical management protocols, infection prevention guidelines, and a risk communication strategy. This follows the World Health Organization’s declaration on August 14, which classified the ongoing Mpox outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), marking the second such declaration under the International Health Regulations, 2005.
States are directed to evaluate public health preparedness at healthcare facilities, with assessments to be conducted by senior officials at state and district levels. The ministry also stressed the need to set up isolation facilities in hospitals for managing both suspected and confirmed cases, ensuring that necessary resources and trained staff are available.
The advisory notes that the clinical symptoms of Mpox clade I in adults are similar to those of clade II, though complication rates may be higher for clade I. The current PHEIC is associated with the more virulent and transmissible clade I virus.
So far, clade I has only been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo during this outbreak, with additional cases noted in Sweden and Thailand. The ministry outlined essential public health actions to limit further spread, including immediate testing of skin lesion samples from suspected cases at designated labs for analysis and possible genome sequencing.
With established diagnostic capabilities—supported by 36 ICMR laboratories and three validated commercial PCR kits—the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is committed to monitoring the situation closely and providing necessary support to states and union territories.
The general public should be aware of and preparedness at healthcare facilities should be funded to handle any outbreak.