by Lloyd's List

23 August 2023 (Lloyd's List) - Singapore will start screening crew arriving at its ports for the mpox virus, its health ministry said. 

Inbound travellers and crews arriving by sea or air will have their temperature taken and be screened for visual signs of the virus, which the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern earlier this month.

The Ministry of Health said it was monitoring the outbreak “very closely”. The vast majority of cases were still confined to Africa, but a few cases of the more serious Clade I variant have been confirmed in Thailand and Sweden.

All travellers were required to report mpox-related symptoms and any suspected cases would be isolated in hospital to await further tests.

Singapore’s precautions come only days after a bulk carrier was prevented from berthing at Rosario, Argentina, because of a suspected mpox case on board, which turned out to be chickenpox.

Health minister Ong Ye Kung told Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times: “We should probably work on the basis that mpox will arrive in Asia. And probably, Singapore will be one of the first places to find cases because of our flight connections.”