Monkeypox under control, but travelers urged to be cautious

China has effectively controlled monkeypox after it reported its first case in June 2023, and the infectious disease is currently in low prevalence on the mainland, according to the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration.

The nation classified monkeypox as Class B infectious disease — the second level of the kind — in September last year.

The administration said in a latest report on Saturday that most provinces have so far reported monkeypox cases. Over 90 percent of the patients are men, who transmitted the disease by having sex with other men, and 40 percent of the patients have a history of HIV/AIDS.

To better prevent and control the disease, China has launched health promotion campaigns to let individuals who plan to visit overseas destinations recording monkeypox outbreaks take more self-protection measures.

The nation has also tightened monitoring of infected cases coming from abroad and enhanced its emergency response and protective supplies to cope with possible inbound outbreaks.

The administration said that people coming from overseas places experiencing monkeypox outbreaks should report to immigration authorities and follow medical quarantine procedures if they have been in contact with a monkeypox patient or are showing symptoms such as fever, headache, or skin rash.

Those people entering the mainland and having such symptoms should also perform self-quarantine and undergo medical treatment and should report their traveling history to places with monkeypox prevalence to the medical workers, according to the administration.