A isolated Monkeypox treatment ward at a hospital in Ahmedabad in India. (Photo: AFP/VNA)As part of India’s response to protecting its populationfrom the new threat, NIV scientists are training their counterparts in thesecountries on testing, clinical symptoms, case definitions, sample collection,and equipment required for testing.
NIV Pune has been conducting such training programmes forother countries from time to time, like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic andeven before for biosafety and bio-risk mitigation, said Dr Pragya Yadav, a seniorscientist at NIV Pune.
If these countries develop the capacity to diagnose anddetect monkeypox cases, that would enhance the screening of the suspected casesand reduce the travel-related importation of cases to other countries, he said.
According to the scientist, some 139 participants from variouscountries participated in the last capacity-building programme which was launched on August 1.
The institute does not only offer the capacity-buildingprogramme but also provides testing kits, reagents and probes for othercountries upon request, said Prof., Dr Priya Abraham, Director of NIV Pune.
Last week, the NIV lab isolated themonkeypox virus strain to help pharmaceutical companies to develop monkeypoxvaccine and diagnostic kits. Besides this, the institute has been designated asa referral laboratory for testing suspected cases. In addition, 15 otherICMR-VRDL (Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory) network laboratories havebeen optimised to undertake diagnostic testing for monkeypox disease.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of July27, around 18,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally from 78 countries andfive deaths have been reported./.
VNA
