Singapore arrivals to be checked after reported monkeypox outbreak

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Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian

KUCHING: The Sarawak government will be monitoring travellers arriving from Singapore following a reported case of monkeypox in the city state a few days ago.

Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian says the Health Department has offices at airports and ports to handle such scenario, and will be on the lookout for those (travellers) displaying symptoms of the disease.

“I’m very sure the Singapore government is very strict on people who have symptoms (of monkeypox) and will stop them from leaving the country first,” he said when met yesterday after the distribution of ‘Bubur Lambuk’ at Stutong Market Ramadan Bazaar, run by Kuching South City Council (MBKS).

He said in terms of animal-to-human disease transmissions, there is a need for everyone to be on guard, as such diseases are often very difficult to control.

“The most classical, more serious one is HIV. It took us 30, 40 years to develop something for HIV and it cost a lot of money.

“I do not know much about monkeypox, except that it is a zoonosis that spreads from animals to humans,” he added.

Singapore authorities confirmed the city state’s first case of monkeypox in a 38-year-old Nigerian, who arrived on April 28 and tested positive for the virus on May 8.

A statement from the republic’s Ministry of Health has also confirmed that the patient is in stable condition in an isolation ward at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

“The patient reported that prior to his arrival in Singapore, he had attended a wedding in Nigeria, where he might have consumed bush meat, which could be a source of transmission of monkey virus,” read the statement.

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans from infected animals such as rodents, mainly in central and western Africa.

Human-to-human transmissions can happen from close contact with infected respiratory tract secretions, skin lesions of an infected person, or objects recently contaminated by the patient’s fluids.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, aches, swollen lymph nodes and skin rash.

The Singapore  Health Ministry statement also mentioned that none of the 23 persons who came into close contact with the patient had shown any symptom of the virus.

All 23 would be quarantined and monitored for 21 days from their date of exposure to the patient, as a precautionary measure, it added.