Singapore began temperature and visual screening of sea checkpoints as a precautionary measure against the import of mpox from abroad.
Similar screening measures will also be implemented at Changi and Seletar airports for passengers arriving from mpox-affected areas.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Transport and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said the measures are designed to enhance Singapore’s surveillance capabilities against mpox at the border.
“While thus far, there are no direct flights between Singapore and any mpox outbreak country, from 23 August 2024, we will put in place temperature and visual screening for … crew and passengers arriving on ships from mpox affected areas,” the MOH said.
Singapore said there had been no confirmed cases of mpox Clade I cases detected in the city-state as of Thursday.
Any suspected cases will be isolated in hospital, so that they can be further assessed and tested. Contact tracing will be conducted for all confirmed cases of mpox to limit community transmission.
“Should suspect Clade I cases be detected, they will be isolated in hospitals. To reduce spread, close contacts of confirmed cases will be quarantined and monitored for up to 21 days from the date of last exposure,” the MOH said.
“MOH is monitoring the global situation very closely. Thus far, the outbreak remains confined to Africa, with two cases of the more severe mpox Clade I reported in Sweden and Thailand. There are currently no reports of local spread in these two countries,” the ministry said.
The MOH said travellers who have fever, rash and/or symptoms compatible with mpox will be referred for medical assessment.
Singapore health minister Ong Ye Kung said that the mpox outbreak in Africa and other places is expected to spread to the Middle East and Europe, which Singapore has flight connections to.
“We should be on alert. We should expect it to arrive in Singapore, and then when it does, respond appropriately and effectively,” Ong said.
The World Health Organization declared on 14 August that the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa constituted a public health emergency of international concern.
This follows the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s declaration of a public health emergency of continental security a day earlier.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 27,000 cases and more than 1,300 deaths since January 2023 in the current outbreak in the DRC.
