The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has alerted all concerned agencies about the risk of an outbreak of the monkeypox virus in the communities.

The division’s move comes amid concerns about the spread of virus in the communities, especially after the country on Saturday confirmed its first case of monkeypox infection. The virus was detected on a 60-year-old foreign woman in Kathmandu.

“The agencies have already started taking measures to lessen the spread of the infection,” said Dr Hemanta Ojha, an official at the division.

To lessen the risk of the outbreak, the health ministry has started contact-tracing persons who came in close contact with the infected woman, investigating the outbreak, stepping up surveillance and alertness level at the health desks in international border points and international airports.

Ojha said that officials have been working to trace primary contacts of the infected woman. Surveillance will be continued as it takes up to 21 days for the symptoms to develop, officials say.

Gopal Pandey, a health worker deployed at the health desk established at the Tribhuvan International Airport, said that they have been asked to send passengers to the hospital if they have fever, rashes and other symptoms of monkeypox.

However, such an alert had also been issued a year ago following the outbreak of the virus in several countries in Europe and Africa and North America.

Public health experts say that every disease seen in any corner of the world has a possibility to come to Nepal due to the high mobility of its own people and the foreign tourists.

“People from any part of the globe can come to Nepal, which means, the risk of any disease seen in any corner of the globe arriving here exists,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit of the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

“Our own experience during the Omicron outbreak shows that deadly diseases could enter the country long before we know about them.”

Pun said there is a higher possibility of a disease like monkeypox spreading in the communities as people don’t open up about such problems. “People generally do not go to the hospitals to get examined for sexually-transmitted diseases.”

Experts say screening suspects at the health desks of international airports and land crossings are not sufficient to prevent a possible outbreak of monkeypox in the country since it usually takes between five and 21 days for the first symptoms to appear. The confirmed case of infection was also identified at a private clinic in Kathmandu.

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus.

Most common in the remote parts of Central and West Africa, the disease has now been reported in at least 112 countries, including Nepal. Neighbouring India has also reported cases of monkeypox.

Its symptoms include fever, headache, swelling, body pains, exhaustion, and itchy rashes on the face, hands, and feet.

As the disease primarily spreads through close person-to-person contact, public health experts recommend self-isolation and good hygiene to avoid it. The World Health Organization has designated the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern—which is the highest health alert. The UN health body says that an international public health emergency is an “extraordinary event” that poses a serious public health risk.

Covid-19 and Ebola outbreaks were also followed by such a declaration.

More than 87,000 cases and 112 deaths from monkeypox have been reported in 2022, according to the UN health body.

Doctors say even though the monkeypox infection is usually mild and most people recover within weeks, the authorities concerned should not underestimate the risks.

“Surveillance should be stepped up, contact tracing should be made effective and study should be also carried out if cross transmission has happened to pets,” said Dr Prabhat Adhikari, an infectious disease expert. “Medicines should be ensured and ring vaccination should be done if it’s found that other people are also infected with the virus.”

Experts say health workers should be trained on the risks, symptoms, and treatment procedures for monkeypox. Chances of misdiagnosis will be high in persons infected with the monkeypox virus as its symptoms are similar to chickenpox or smallpox.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has said the health condition of the monkeypox-infected woman is normal.