China steps up checks for mpox as Asia goes on high alert after WHO warning

China says it will begin screening travellers for symptoms of the virus after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “global health emergency”

Travellers walk with their suitcases at Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China, Apr 24, 2023.

Countries across Asia are now on high alert for mpox, with China announcing that it will begin stepping up checks for the highly contagious disease after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a "global health emergency".

Previously known as "monkeypox", the highly infectious disease can spread quickly through close contact. 

Symptoms include fever, headaches, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.

In an announcement on Friday, Chinese customs officials said all overseas arrivals would be screened for symptoms of the virus over the next six months. This will also apply to all aircraft and vessels, as well as containers and goods, arriving from mpox-affected places, officials said. 

China in 2022 classified mpox as a Class B infectious disease, allowing officials to take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school or sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease.

Those "who have been in contact with mpox cases or display symptoms… should take the initiative to declare themselves to customs", read a statement by the General Administration of Customs. 

This week, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for a second time in two years, following an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has since spread to neighbouring parts of Central and East Africa.