Suspected case of monkeypox in Patna

The Bihar Health Department detected a suspected case of monkeypox in Patna's Gurhatta locality on Tuesday.

The victim is a woman and a team of health officials have collected her samples for testing.

According to an official, the woman has all symptoms of monkeypox and is currently under home isolation.

"We have taken the samples of the patient and sent them for testing. She is under home isolation now and a team is monitoring her health," he said.

Previously, one case of monkeypox had been detected in Delhi and three in Kerala. Therefore, the Bihar's Health Department is on high alert and has asked medical and nursing staff, ANMs (auxiliary nurses and midwifes), and Asha workers to be prepared.

The nureses, midwives and Asha workers were specially asked to keep a tab on high density areas and inform the department as soon as symptoms of the disease were detected in any patient.

The World Health Organisation has declared monkeypox a global health emergency after over 16,000 cases of the infection appeared across 65 countries.

Monkeypox is either transmitted from animals to humans or from human to human. The virus generally enters the human body through mouth, nose, eyes and skin lesions of an infected person.