The silent, rapidly unfolding threat of mpox spread via international travel to Southeast Asia: Are we ready?

• Published in: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease
• Main Authors: Wasin Matsee, Sakarn Charoensakulchai, I Made Ady Wirawan, Hisham A. Imad
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2023
• Subjects: Monkeypox; mpox; Transmission; Sex tourism; International traveller; Southeast Asia; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic; Traveller
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2023.102597; https://doaj.org/article/41568a0a72ee4c83a23c3cc7e8a40882

The 2022 mpox (monkeypox) outbreak has been surprisingly large and has raised several novel questions about this disease. New information, such as atypical clinical manifestations and transmission via sexual activities, have been identified. These pose a potential risk of widespread outbreaks due to unusual clinical manifestations and failure to consider mpox as a diagnosis by physicians and the sexual behaviours of some tourists in Southeast Asia. Since Southeast Asia is a popular tourist destination, there is substantial potential for the silent spread of mpox in this region. Consequently, there is an urgent need for effective surveillance measures at points of entry of international travelers to identify suspected cases and their close contacts in order to limit the spread of mpox in Southeast Asia.