Turkish returnee does not have monkeypox: DGHS

The Turkish citizen, who was sent to a hospital on Tuesday afternoon after showing suspected symptoms of monkeypox, is not carrying the virus, health authorities said.

Additional director general of directorate general of health services (DGHS) Ahmedul Kabir said he was discharged on Tuesday afternoon after test results came negative.

The Turkish citizen arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in a Turkish Airlines flight on Tuesday noon. The airport health authorities detected symptoms of monkeypox in him during screening.

He was first taken to the Airport Health Centre and then sent to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali.

As soon as the news spread, the health ministry issued a press release saying no cases of monkeypox have been detected in the country yet and if any case is found in the future, people will be informed through press release.

On 22 May, the government instructed the authorities concerned to strengthen surveillance at land, air and sea ports for screening travelers coming to Bangladesh from countries with confirmed monekypox cases.

The DGHS issued a notice in this regard.

According to the notice, monkeypox is not a new disease. It was found among people in west and central African countries in the past. Recently it has been detected among people living in European and American countries with no history of travelling to Africa.

People who contracted the virus or came in close contact with the infected people should be listed as suspected patients of monkeypox, it said.

The suspected patients or patients showing symptoms should be taken to a government hospital or Infectious Diseases Hospital, kept in isolation and it should be reported to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.