Singapore will screen for mpox symptoms at border checkpoints, boosting precautionary measures against the virus after its outbreak was declared a global health emergency.
Temperature and visual screening will start today at the Changi and Seletar airports, as well as sea checkpoints, for inbound travelers and crew arriving from places where there’s risk of mpox outbreaks, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Travellers who have fever, rash or symptoms compatible with mpox will be referred for medical assessment, it said.
Asian countries like China, India and Pakistan have boosted surveillance for mpox recently. Thailand became the first country in Asia to detect a new mutated strain of the virus, clade Ib.
As of Thursday, “13 confirmed cases of mpox have been detected this year, all of which are of the less severe Clade II infections”, MOH said, adding that no Clade I cases have yet been detected in Singapore.
