China has announced that it will begin screening people and goods entering the country for Mpox symptoms over the next six months.
This decision comes just two days after the World Health Organization declared the virus a global health emergency.
In a statement released on Friday, China’s customs administration advised, “People traveling from countries where virus outbreaks have occurred, who have been in contact with mpox cases or display symptoms should take the initiative to declare to customs when entering the country.”
The statement also emphasized that vehicles, containers, and items coming from areas with mpox cases should be properly sanitized to prevent the spread of the virus.
This announcement follows a report from Sweden on Thursday, where the first case outside Africa of a more dangerous variant of mpox was detected.
The WHO has warned that more imported cases of this new strain in Europe are likely.
On Wednesday, the WHO sounded its highest possible alarm over the worsening mpox situation in Africa, officially declaring it a global public health emergency.
This declaration came just a day after the African Union’s health watchdog declared its own public health emergency in response to the intensifying outbreak.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by a virus that can be transmitted to humans by infected animals. It can also spread from person to person through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches, and large boil-like skin lesions.
The virus has been sweeping through the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was first discovered in humans in 1970, and has since spread to other countries.
