LUCKNOW: The health department in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad has sent samples from a five-year-old girl for testing for monkeypox. Meanwhile, government health sources denied reports that monkeypox was reported in the country.

"The sample of a suspected monkeypox case in Ghaziabad has been sent for testing, but it's unnecessary panic mongering. No monkeypox case has been reported in the country so far," the government sources said.

The samples of the girl were sent for testing after she complained of itching and rashes on her body.

The Chief Medical Officer of Ghaziabad said the test was just a "precautionary measure" as the girl had no other health issues and did not have close contact with anyone who travelled abroad in the past month.

On Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry issued "Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease" to ensure advance preparedness across the country, in view of the rising reports of monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries.

According to the guidelines, a confirmed case is laboratory confirmed for Monkeypox virus by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or sequencing.