Bhubaneswar: The Health Department in Odisha today revealed that it is fully prepared to deal with any possible Monkeypox menace.

Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra made this revelation in the wake of detection of a suspected Monkeypox case in the country recently.

“The Health Department in Odisha is well-prepared to deal with any possible Monkeypox threat. The Centre has taken steps for keeping people with travel history to the monkeypox-affected countries in isolation if any symptom for the viral disease is found in them. They have recently kept a person with suspected monkeypox symptoms in isolation,” Mohapatra said.

The authorities have intensified screening at all international airports in the country. Anyone found with suspected symptoms of Monkeypox will be kept in isolation, he added.

“There is no need to panic. The health authorities at the Centre and state are constantly monitoring the situation. The viral disease spreads only when we come in close contact with an infected person,” Mohapatra said.

It is worth mentioning here that Monkeypox causes fevers, headaches, and muscle aches, as well as painful boils on the skin. It spreads from person to person through close, skin-to-skin contact. 

Around 1 lakh cases of Monkeypox with 208 deaths in 116 countries have been reported so far.