NEW DELHI: Amid a surge in cases of mycoplasma pneumonia and influenza flu in China, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said that the government is monitoring the situation and taking necessary steps."The government is monitoring the situation.

The ICMR and the Director General of Health Services are observing the surging cases of pneumonia in China, and necessary steps are being taken," Mandaviya said.Even as the recent outbreak of H9N2 and pneumonia cases in parts of China has raised a global concern, the Union health ministry on Friday had said that India is at "low risk" .In a statement, the ministry also noted that there have been media reports about rising cases of respiratory illness among children in northern China.China reports Influenza-like illness outbreak among children; India monitors situation"The usual causes of respiratory illness in children have been implicated and there has been no identification of an unusual pathogen or any unexpected clinical manifestations," it said.The ministry said that a meeting was recently held under the chairmanship of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to discuss the preparedness measures against human cases of avian Influenza in India amid a human case of H9N2 (Avian influenza virus) reported in China in October 2023."The overall risk assessment by WHO indicates a low probability of human to human spread and low case fatality rate among human cases of H9N2 reported to WHO so far," it said.The ministry added that there is a need for strengthening surveillance among human, animal husbandry and wild life sectors and improving coordination.The statement that India is prepared for any kind of "public health exigency".It noted that there has also been a significant strengthening of health infrastructure especially after the Covid pandemic.It noted that India’s surveillance and detection networks now have ample experience of dealing with challenging health situations during the Covid-19 pandemic.