Delhi govt declares ‘Black Fungus’ an epidemic in national capital

Delhi: Putting out an official notification, the Delhi government on Thursday declared ‘Black Fungus’ (Mucormycosis) an epidemic in the national capital.

Lately, the cases of the infection in Delhi have been on the rise.

While on May 21, Delhi had a total of 200 cases of Black Fungus, the number of the infection witnessed a steep rise and reached 620 on May 26.

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar are other states to have declared the infection as an epidemic disease under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Central government to consider a complete waiver of import duties of the drug Amphotericin B, used to treat Mucormycosis, for a limited period till the scarcity of drug is resolved in the country.