China to screen arrivals for mpox

The move comes after the WHO declared a global health emergency over the virus

Chinese authorities have started monitoring people and goods entering the country for mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Friday. The new measures will remain in force for six months, according to GAC.

The announcement came two days after the World Health Organization (WHO) designated a recent surge in infections in Africa as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), and called for a vaccination campaign.

People arriving in China from “countries and regions where cases of the disease have been confirmed should declare their conditions to customs upon entry if they have symptoms” including fever, headache, rashes and others, the GAC said, emphasising that “customs officers will implement medical measures and conduct sampling and testing in accordance with the prescribed procedure.”

Vehicles, containers and goods from areas where mpox cases have been spotted should be sanitised, the statement added.

Mpox can spread through close contact, causing flu-like symptoms, a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, and swollen lymph nodes. According to WHO, the disease is usually mild and only fatal only in rare cases.

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Africa declares public health emergency

Last year, China’s National Health Commission labelled mpox a Category B infectious disease along with COVID-19, AIDS and SARS. The move enabled national authorities to take emergency measures, including restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, and sealing off areas in case of an outbreak.

Mpox was first identified as a distinct illness in 1958 among laboratory monkeys in Denmark, while the first documented cases in humans were recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus has long been endemic in central Africa, mainly in the DRC. When it first began spreading in late 2022, the WHO declared an emergency and renamed the disease mpox, to avoid “racist and stigmatizing language.”

On Wednesday, the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “a coordinated international response” to stop the spread of the disease and save lives across the world. The statement followed a viral outbreak in the DRC that spread to neighbouring countries earlier this month.