by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AUTHORITIES in some Southern African countries are stepping up traveller health screening at their borders following the outbreak of mpox.
Botswana, Malawi and South Africa are increasing screening procedures in a bid to minimise the transmission of mpox, an infectious disease, across borders.
South Africa’s Border Management Authority announced back in June that transporters were required to provide a general declaration of health for their passengers, which may include subjecting travelers to thermal screening.
Last Tuesday, Botswana’s Ministry of Health announced that the country was increasing their surveillance at high-risk points of entry, while on Sunday, Malawi began testing all travelers for mpox at every port of entry.
However, such measures are not expected to negatively impact travel through land, sea, or aerial ports of entry into these countries, but risk management company, Crisis 24, has forecast increased security as possible at ports of entry, which could cause knock-on delays to human and freight travel.
It stated additional countries might announce similar measures in the coming weeks.
“More stringent measures may also be implemented, such as the requirement for health certificates, mandatory testing upon arrival, quarantines, or border closures,” Crisis 24 said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of World Health Organization (WHO), was in Congo-Brazzaville recently, where he provided an update on mpox and declared a public health emergency of international concern.
So far this year, more than 18 000 suspected cases of mpox, with 615 deaths, have been reported in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alone, already exceeding last year’s figures.
The WHO director general said of particular concern was the rapid spread of a new strain called clade 1b.
In the past month, more than 220 cases of clade 1b have also been confirmed in five countries with close proximity to the DRC – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – which had not reported mpox before.
Last week, cases of clade 1b were also reported in Sweden and Thailand, in people with a travel history from affected countries in Africa.
– CAJ News