Indore: Amid the rising cases of the global monkeypox disease, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) decided to strengthen the surveillance and diagnostic capacity for the Monkeypox virus and other zoonotic diseases by installing diagnoses and culture-based testing of these diseases in three sentinel sites across the state.
NCDC has chosen three sentinel sites to set up diagnoses and culture-based testing of Monkeypox virus and other zoonotic diseases including MGM Medical College. The testing lab would be set up in three government medical colleges in Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur.
The existing lab in MGM Medical College would be upgraded by NCDC which will allow the medical experts at the college to conduct tests on the samples of the monkeypox virus and other zoonotic diseases. It is expected that the testing process will begin soon.
After World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the global monkeypox outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)", the government have been taking advanced measures to control the disease from spreading in future. So far, no monkeypox cases have been detected in the state.
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Aiming to establish a network of Sentinel Surveillance Sites across the country, NCDC has selected these three sentinel sites based on the nomination provided by the state government after all the states were asked to send proposals to nominate the medical college/institute for undertaking Sentinel Surveillance activity. However, the technical and financial support for the test lab will be provided by NCDC.
According to a senior officer of the Medical Education Department, establishing these surveillance centres is one of the key objectives of National One Health Programme for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses (NOHP-PCZ).
Meanwhile, Dean of MGM Medical College Dr Sanjay Dixit told Free Journal Press "The college has been nominated by the state government and now they will send the comprehensive proposal for being the Sentinel Site. The priority zoonosis proposed to be included (but is not limited to) Scrub Typhus, Rickettsial infections, Leptospirosis, KFD, CCHF, Brucellosis etc. NCDC will upgrade our existing lab for the same after which we will be able to test the samples of Monkeypox as well."
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. Monkeypox typically presents with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks.
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