Bali’s Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport will begin thermal
screening for all international arrivals in response to global fears of
the spread of deadly Mpox.
The World Health Organisation has declared recent outbreaks of Mpox as a public health emergency of international concern.
Thailand has announced its first confirmed case of a new, potentially
deadlier strain of Mpox - the first in Asia, and second outside of
Africa.
Indonesia has confirmed that all arrivals into the country will be
required to fill out a health screening form to help officials keep
track of tourists’ movements.
The general manager of Bali Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan, told
reporters, “There are no particular foreigners who are targeted
specifically and are the focus of anticipating Mpox transmission at I
Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.”
In Thailand, the BBC reports, an infected 66-year-old European man
arrived in Bangkok from an unnamed African country on 14 August. He
began displaying symptoms the next day, and immediately went to
hospital. It has since been confirmed he had contracted Mpox, and in
particular the strain known as Clade 1b.
At least 450 people have died from Mpox in an outbreak centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo.