Riau Islands Provincial Government Asked To Beware Of Monkeypox From Neighboring Countries

Riau Islands DPRD member Wahyu Wahyudin. (ANTARA/Ogen)

TANJUNGPINANG - Riau Islands Provincial DPRD (Kepri) member Wahyu Wahyudin asked the local government to increase awareness of the transmission of monkeypox following the discovery of the case in neighboring countries, Singapore and Malaysia.

"We have to be vigilant, don't let monkeypox spread to our area, because the Riau Islands are very close to neighboring countries," he said as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, July 27.

He suggested that the Riau Islands Health Office cooperate with the Port Health Office and other relevant parties in tightening supervision at the entrance and exit of international ports, in order to anticipate the entry of monkeypox disease by foreign nationals (foreigners) and foreign travelers, especially from Singapore and Malaysia.

Moreover, he said, since the beginning of 2022, access to travel from Riau Islands to Singapore-Malaysia and vice versa, has been opened by the government, so that the traffic of foreign travelers will certainly start to stretch.

"Examination of overseas passengers must be tightened using screening equipment available at ports," he said.

Wahyu asked the relevant agencies to step in to check medical equipment at international ports to ensure that they can be used to detect early symptoms of monkeypox brought by foreign travelers.

"One of the symptoms is fever. If it is detected during the inspection at the port of arrival, of course it can be handled further," he said.

Wahyu hopes that the local government will optimize the prevention of the spread of monkeypox in Riau Islands so that it does not spread like the COVID-19 pandemic that is still hitting the country.

"We must learn from the experience of dealing with COVID-19. So don't be careless, all parties should work together to prevent monkeypox cases," Wahyudin said.

The Coordinator of Quarantine Control and Epidemological Surveillance of the Tanjungpinang Port Health Office, Nolita Sesphana, said that his party was tightening supervision at the arrival gate of the Sri Bintan Pura international port (SBP).

Relevant officers will check the data on the country of origin of the arrival of the passengers, especially from countries that have been exposed to monkeypox. Furthermore, an initial medical examination is carried out and if there are symptoms such as fever, a further physical examination will be carried out and even referred to a local hospital.

"If a fever is detected, it must be detected through a health screening at the port, but for other symptoms, further examination must be carried out," he said.

Nolita also ensured that so far no cases of monkeypox have been found, but the possibility of its spread exists so it is necessary to watch out for it as well as to prevent it from an early stage involving all related elements.

He said monkeypox or Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, which is a disease transmitted by viruses to humans from animals such as monkeys and rodents through direct contact with the blood, body fluids or skin lesions of infected animals, and consuming contaminated wild animal meat.