The Kerala government on Friday stepped up vigil to prevent the spread of monkeypox, issuing special alerts to five districts and starting to trace co-passengers, a day after the state reported India’s first case of the rare viral infection. 

State Health Minister Veena George said special alert has been issued to five districts, as people from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam were co-passengers of the infected person in the Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram Indigo flight that landed here on July 12.