Monkeypox: Screening teams at airport, bus stands, railway stations

With the number of monkeypox cases rising across the world, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Monday said it would deploy round-the-clock health screening teams at the airport, railway stations and bus stands in the city.

The announcement came as part of a circular issued by the civic body for surveillance and management of monkeypox within the BBMP limits.

The BBMP has directed the chief health officer, district surveillance and all zonal health officers to deploy health screening teams in their respective zones. The officers have also been directed to reorient the doctors working at primary healthcare centres and hospitals to understand the common signs and symptoms, diagnosis, case definition etc of suspected, probable and confirmed monkeypox cases and contacts.

As per the circular, all suspected cases will be screened and tested through both hospital-based surveillance and targeted surveillance. The confirmed cases are expected to be in isolation for at least 21 days and until the rashes have healed and the scabs have fallen off.

According to doctors, the monkeypox virus spreads from person to person through close physical contact with infectious lesions or by touching items like clothing or through the respiratory droplets produced by coughing or
sneezing.