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Guo Rui

Top Chinese epidemiologist Wu Zunyou has revised his advisory about monkeypox prevention after his earlier comments came under fire for being “racist and discriminatory”.
On his Weibo account on Saturday, Wu urged people to avoid “direct skin-to-skin contact” with foreigners or recent returnees from abroad to avoid contracting the disease.
The comments drew criticism on Chinese social media where his advice was ridiculed as racist and inappropriate.
The advisory came a day after China reported its first monkeypox case – a patient who had flown into Chongqing from Germany and was in quarantine when he was diagnosed.


Wu amended his advice on Monday, asking people to avoid “intimate direct skin-to-skin contact” with foreigners or returnees from countries and regions where monkeypox outbreaks had been reported.
In his latest post, Wu also played down the risk of monkeypox spreading in China, saying there were no domestic cases and the spread of the disease outside the country appeared to be abating.
Wu said the United States, Britain, France, Spain, Brazil, and other countries had reported a rapid rise in monkeypox cases from May, but the possibility of such an epidemic in mainland China was very slim.
“As the spread [of monkeypox] in the two high-risk areas – America and Europe – subsides, the pressure on us to prevent the import of cases into mainland China has been reduced,” Wu wrote.
Are smallpox vaccines effective for monkeypox? Hong Kong research offers insight
The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient was a 29-year-old Chinese salesman who had had sex with men during a trip to Germany in early September. He later travelled to Spain before he returned to Chongqing on Wednesday.
Gene sequencing showed the virus strain in his case belonged to the B.1 branch of the West African lineage, and was “highly homologous”, or similar, to strains from Germany collected on June 21.
The World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on July 23.


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Mpox

Chinese health expert amends monkeypox advisory after online backlash

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, has revised his advice for monkeypox prevention. Photo: Getty Images

Monkeypox in mainland China ‘only a matter of time’, says top scientist

The World Health Organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Photo: AP

China steps up monkeypox procedures, calling on travellers to announce contact with cases

China’s General Administration of Customs has announced new prevention measures in an attempt to stop monkeypox being introduced into China. Photo: CDC via AP

News

China

Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou refines his advice after warning earlier against direct skin contact with foreigners and returnees from abroad
CDC says China’s first patient with the disease visited Germany and Spain


Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou refines his advice after warning earlier against direct skin contact with foreigners and returnees from abroad.


Disease

China society

Social media

Health in China

Chinese health expert amends monkeypox advisory after online backlash

Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou refines his advice after warning earlier against direct skin contact with foreigners and returnees from abroad CDC says China’s first patient with the disease visited Germany and Spain

Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou refines his advice after warning earlier against direct skin contact with foreigners and returnees from abroad

CDC says China’s first patient with the disease visited Germany and Spain