WHO Confirms Monkeypox Cases Outside Africa, Indonesian Ministry Of Health: We Increase Vigilance At Entrances

Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (Wikimedia Commons/Lawrence Ruiz)

JAKARTA - Indonesia is increasing vigilance, especially at the entrance to the country, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency for monkeypox (mux), and confirmed the first case outside Africa.

"Keep our vigilance, yes," said Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, to VOI via text message, Friday, August 16.

"We increase vigilance at the entrance to the country through the duties and functions of the health quarantine agency," he continued.

As previously reported, global health officials on Thursday confirmed infections with a new type of monkeypox virus (mox) in Sweden and linked it to an outbreak that developed in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent the day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a global public health emergency.

Swedish health officials said at a news conference the person was infected while in Africa with the type MPX klade Ib involved in the recent outbreak. The person is receiving treatment.

"The emergence of cases in the European continent could spur the rapid spread of international pomps," Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert, and professor atTENance Law in Washington, told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Dr. Brian Ferguson of Cambridge University said the case with a Swedish traveler was worrying but not surprising, given the severity and spread of the outbreak in Africa.

"There will likely be more cases here and in other parts of the world because there is currently no mechanism applied to stop importedmpox cases," he said.

On Wednesday, WHO declared the outbreak in Africa a state of public health emergency of international concern or PHEIC, after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to nearby countries. PHEIC is the WHO's highest level of alertness.

It said there were 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, especially among children, in Congo since the current outbreak began in January 2023.

Klade Ib, the strain of the virus behind the current outbreak, is a new variant of the endemic klade I in Congo. Klade Ib seems to spread more easily through regular close contact, including sexual contact.

Mpox klade I tends to cause more severe infections and has a higher death rate thanmpox klade II, according to US health officials.

In 2022, WHO declared a public health emergency over the klade II outbreak, which caused more than 95,000 cases in 115 non-endemic countries.

"Education, especially people who will travel to infected areas, not to carry out risky sex behavior or meet infected patients," said Siti Nadia Tarmizi.

"The types are different, however, remain vigilant. This mainly avoids risky sex behavior, because of the transmission of direct contact and through sexual intercourse," he added.