Singapore has stepped up precautionary measures, including temperature and visual screenings at two of its major airports, against the import of mpox from aboard.
Starting Aug. 23, inbound travelers at the Changi and Seletar airports and sea checkpoints are required to undergo health checks and declare their travel history and any mpox-related symptoms on arrival forms.
The city state is conducting screening for those arriving on flights from places which may be exposed to the risk of mpox outbreaks, according to the Ministry of Health. Travelers with fever, rash, or other symptoms will be referred for medical assessment.
The precautionary measures come as the mpox virus continues to spread beyond Africa and after Thailand and the Philippines reported their first cases in the past week.
"Singapore must be seen to be doing something to warn the others and to warn the people that mpox is coming. Putting up guards like this is a very visual thing to remind everyone to be aware of mpox. It is to tell people visibly that you need to see a doctor if you have a fever or rash, and the doctor on site could actually make sure that you are fine," Dr. Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease physician at the Rophi Clinic, told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in an interview on Monday.
Although Singapore does not have direct flights from African countries experiencing mpox outbreaks, infectious disease experts are concerned that it is only a matter of time before the virus reaches its shores.
"Viruses as we all know do not respect borders and boundaries, and Singapore, being a global travel hub, is also pretty close, just one connecting flight away, from many parts of Africa where the virus is spreading," said Prof. Hsu Li Yang, vice dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health of the National University of Singapore.
The professor said that unlike COVID-19, mpox requires close or prolonged contact to transmit. This allows Singapore to adopt a different vaccination approach.
"Singapore practices or is going to implement what is called a 'ring vaccination' strategy, where if there is a single case of mpox, then the Ministry of Health will look for the close contacts of the individual and vaccinate all of them or as many of them as possible. Because it would be very costly to vaccinate everyone with a lot of potential side effects," he explained.
The Singapore authorities said that the country is equipped with a stockpile of mpox vaccines and the risk of a major outbreak remains low for the time being.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop the outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO Director-General on Aug. 14.
Singapore steps up precautions against mpox import
