Indonesia, Singapore airports tighten security over monkeypox

Travellers to Indonesia and Singapore should be prepared for extra safety precautions due to a new monkeypox outbreak.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Craig Shaw, PDM

The introduction of enhanced controls will primarily affect the time travelers spend at arrival airports. To pass the controls, it will be necessary to fill out forms and answer questions from local authorities, who ask for understanding of these measures.

In mid-August, the World Health Organization declared a health emergency over the new mpox outbreak, now called mpox. At that point, more than 5,000 new cases had been reported, many of them in Africa.

In this regard, special attention will be paid at airports in Indonesia and Singapore to those who have arrived from or recently visited African countries. In Indonesia, travellers will be asked to fill out a questionnaire with information about the countries visited, planned routes and health status.

Singapore will add mandatory temperature and eye checks for travellers from high-risk areas to these measures. These security measures will apply not only at airports but also at other border crossings.

A few days ago, Thailand reported its first case of infection with the new mpox strain. The infected person was an elderly European who arrived at the resort from Africa. A similar case was soon registered in the Philippines. No new cases have been recorded in Russia yet.

During the first outbreak of monkeypox in Russia, the disease was detected in a young man returning from a trip to Europe and in two men returning from China.

Clarifications

Monkeypox (English Monkeypox, abbreviated – Mpox, also known as “African smallpox”) is an infectious disease of animals and humans, characterized by fever, general intoxication and the appearance of exanthema. The causative agent of monkeypox is the mpox virus from the poxvirus family (its former name is English monkeypox) is genetically close to the smallpox virus, the causative agent of human smallpox

Singapore — a city-state located on islands in Southeast Asia, separated from the southern tip of the Malacca Peninsula by the narrow Strait of Johor. It borders the Sultanate of Johor, part of Malaysia, and the Riau Islands Province, part of Indonesia.

Indonesia (Indonesian. Indonesian [ɪndoˈnesia]), the official name is the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [reˈpublik ɪndoˈnesia]) is a state in Southeast Asia.

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