‘Doesn’t spread through casual community contact’: No quarantine required for S’pore residents returning from mpox-prone regions

No quarantine necessary for Singaporean travellers returning from mpox-prone countries

Health experts have confirmed that Singapore residents who choose to travel to the continent of Africa can return home without the worry of quarantine, despite the rapid spread of a clade 1 strain of the mpox virus in specific African nations.

This is as long as travellers returning from mpox-prone regions do not exhibit symptoms.

This development follows the start of temperature and visual screenings at Changi Airport on 23 Aug for passengers and crew arriving from regions affected by the mpox virus.

According to The Straits Times (ST), the peak safari season for holidaying in the African continent is between July and September.

Minimal casual community transmission

Mpox, a global health emergency still not as contagious as Covid-19 in communal situations, has been detected extensively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with over 27,000 cases and more than 1,300 deaths reported by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the current outbreak.

Despite the high transmission rates, officials maintain that quarantine measures for Singapore residents are currently unnecessary unless direct contact with an infected individual is suspected or one has partaken in high-risk activities.

Professor Dale Fisher of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine noted that the transmission of mpox, unlike Covid-19, is minimal in casual community contacts.

“[mpox] doesn’t seem to spread through casual community contact as Covid-19 did,” Dr Fisher said, emphasising that the primary risk comes from high-risk and unsafe sexual behaviours such as having multiple sexual partners, irrespective of sexual orientation.

Local specialists including Dr Barnaby Young of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Lee Kong Chian’s School of Medicine have highlighted the less widespread and more direct transmission method of mpox, reassuring the public that following safety precautions while travelling can effectively reduce the risk of contracting the disease.

“Mpox transmission is mainly through close, direct contact with infected individuals, which travellers can avoid,” he told ST.

Not the new Covid-19

While Singapore maintains active surveillance and precautionary methods at its borders, no direct flights currently exist between Singapore and any nation experiencing a mpox outbreak.

Enhanced health advisories and screenings are implemented at air and sea entry points, aimed at promptly identifying and isolating suspected cases.

Returning residents from any flights are also required to declare any related symptoms on the SG Arrival Card as stated by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The World Health Organisation (WHO), despite its declaration of mpox as a public health emergency, has underlined that mpox should not be seen as the next Covid-19, and has outlined distinct differences in transmission modes between diseases.

Also read: What is mpox & should S’poreans be worried about infections?

What is mpox & should S’poreans be worried about infections?

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Featured image adapted from World Health Organization and Changi Airport from Facebook.