Inbound travelers to undergo screening for monkeypox

Inbound travelers will undergo a monkeypox screening along with COVID-19 testing during their quarantine period, the National Health Commission said.

The authority stated the requirement in a guideline on monkeypox prevention issued on July 1, calling on all cities to conduct the monkeypox virus check for inbound travelers, especially those who have a traveling history in a country with reported monkeypox infections within 21 days before entering China.

The guideline says that people with rash symptoms should be closely monitored, adding that suspected cases need to be promptly reported to local disease control agencies and transferred to designated medical institutes.

Under the guideline, exit-entry personnel and people in epidemic areas should follow monkeypox-related information in the country where they will arrive in or head for.

Returnees from epidemic areas should pay attention to self-health monitoring, and they need to seek medical treatment and inform their travel history of visiting the epidemic areas to doctors if rashes or some other symptoms are discovered, the guideline says.

It states that inbound travelers who contacted monkeypox infections but have not yet developed symptoms can contact and report to local centers for diseases control and prevention.

It also calls for medical and health institutes at all levels to ask about the epidemiological history of patients with fever and rash, with etiological screening to exclude the symptoms are not caused by chickenpox, rubella or measles.

In areas where monkeypox is endemic, the guideline suggests people try to avoid contact with rodents and primates, including the sick or dead ones, and not to directly contact the blood and flesh of animals.

People should wear gloves and other appropriate protective equipment while handling infected animals or tissues, it says.