Turkish citizen who arrived at Shahjalal airport does not have monkeypox
The Turkish citizen, who was sent to a hospital on Tuesday afternoon after presenting suspected symptoms of monkeypox, is not carrying the virus, health authorities said.
Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services, Ahmedul Kabir, said he was discharged on Tuesday afternoon following tests as he was not detected with the virus.
The Turkish citizen arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a flight of Turkish Airlines on Tuesday noon. The airport health authorities detected symptoms of monkeypox in him during screening, said Dr Shahrier.
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He was first taken to the Airport Health Centre and then sent to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mohakhali, Dr Shahrier added.
As soon as the news spread, the health ministry issued a press release saying no monkeypox case has been detected yet in the country and if any case is found in 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 Directorate General of Health Services (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 Middle African countries in the past. Recently it has been detected among people living in European and American countries with no history of travelling in the African countries.
People who contracted the virus or came close to the infected people should be listed as suspected patients of monkeypox, it said.
The suspected patients or patients having symptoms should be taken to government hospitals or Infectious Diseases Hospital and kept in isolation and it should be reported to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
