Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport is on high alert after India’s first monkeypox case was detected in New Delhi and screening tests for international passengers are underway. A 26-year-old man from Haryana was infected with the virus, which can be transmitted from person to person. In an announcement, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) said, “Keeping the global Mpox situation in mind, Bengaluru airport is fully prepared with all safety protocols. We are conducting screening and temperature checks of international passengers, and if anyone is found with the symptoms, we send them for a 21-day quarantine.”

Passengers arriving from African countries are being thoroughly monitored until they leave the airport, as multiple Mpox cases were recorded there. Meanwhile, Karnataka health department also said that the state government has implemented comprehensive measures to manage any potential outbreak. Speaking to news agency ANI earlier, Karnataka Medical Education minister Sharan Prakash Patil said, “There’s no need for alarm; we have implemented the necessary measures. The Union Health Department has already issued guidelines, and the Centre has provided advisories regarding Mpox. We have organised testing and screening facilities at Victoria Hospital and set up isolation beds. Tests will be conducted free of charge.”

The Union Health Ministry said that the man who tested positive for the Mpox virus had been isolated, and contact tracing was underway to identify the possible source of the infection. Mpox is a viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus. After a sudden increase in cases of monkeypox was recorded in parts of Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on August 14 declared the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of global concern. This was the second announcement by WHO on a global outbreak of the viral disease since 2022, when cases were reported from all over the world.