China to screen arrivals showing mpox symptoms as cases spread outside Africa
- All aircraft and vessels from areas affected by the disease will need to comply with health measures, customs officials said
China has announced that it will start screening arrivals from overseas who show signs of mpox, which has been declared a global health emergency.
Customs authorities said on Friday that all aircraft and vessels – including cargo and container ships – arriving from countries or regions affected by mpox will need to comply with health processing measures.
According to a statement issued by the General Administration of Customs, people who have been in contact with cases of mpox or are showing related symptoms should make a declaration upon entering the country.
Symptoms include “fever, headache, backache, myalgia, swollen lymph nodes, skin, and mucous membrane rashes”, the statement read.
The screening measures will last for six months and the list of affected countries will be updated according to World Health Organization information.
Global health officials confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden on Thursday, linking it to a growing outbreak in Africa. The case in Sweden came one day after the WHO declared the disease a global public health emergency.
So far this year, 13 African countries have reported 17,541 mpox cases, with 517 deaths.
