Chance of mpox outbreak in India currently low: Health ministry

New Delhi, Aug 17: India on Saturday decided to start checking for mpox cases at international airports and seaports because of the possibility of “a few imported cases” in the coming weeks with the Union Health Ministry observing that the chance of a large outbreak is low at the moment.

“Although the possibility of a few imported cases being detected in the coming weeks is not entirely ruled out, it was assessed that the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is presently low for India,” the ministry said after a high level review meeting chaired by the Union Health Minister J P Nadda.

The review took place three days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern. There are no reported cases of mpox in India as of date.

But as a matter of abundant caution, it has been decided to sensitise the health units at all the airports, seaports, and ground crossings; preparing 32 testing laboratories and gearing up health facilities for detecting, isolating and managing any case.

Mpox infections are usually self-limiting lasting between 2-4 weeks and patients generally recover with supportive management. The transmission requires prolonged close contact with an infected case and is generally through the sexual route, direct contact with body/lesion fluid, or contaminated clothing/linen of an infected person.

Earlier in July 2022, the WHO declared mpox as a global public health emergency but revoked the same in May 2023.

The WHO has reported 99,176 cases and 208 deaths due to mpox from 116 countries since 2022 including 30 cases from India. The last case was detected in March 2024, the ministry said.

The ministerial review took place a day after technical experts from the health ministry, Indian Council of Medical Research, the All India Institute of Medical Research and WHO took stock of the situation.