Overseas passengers are screened for Mpox symptoms at the airport

Some health department officials are being deployed on rotation to conduct Mpox tests at Tiruchi airport. | Photo: M. MOORTHY

International passengers, especially those from African countries who had already travelled to those countries, were screened at Tiruchi International Airport for suspected symptoms of Mpox (monkeypox).

The checks have been taking place for a few days after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently issued a corresponding advisory for entry points.

Some health inspectors from Tiruchi have been deployed in shifts to check international passengers arriving at Tiruchi airport along with airport health officials.

The passengers were screened after receiving the list from the immigration authorities to see if they had fever or other suspected symptoms of Mpox. No such case has been reported here so far, a senior health ministry official said.

According to the alert, Mpox is a viral zone disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and western Africa and has occasionally been exported to other regions. Mpox typically presents clinically with a rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes and can lead to a range of medical complications. According to the alert, cases of monkeypox have been reported in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Liberia.