Imported Monkeypox, Singapore - Volume 26, Number 8—August 2020 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC

Imported Monkeypox, Singapore - Volume 26, Number 8—August 2020 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC

Volume 26, Number 8—August 2020

Dispatch

Imported Monkeypox, Singapore

Sarah Ee Fang Yong, Oon Tek Ng, Zheng Jie Marc Ho, Tze Minn Mak, Kalisvar Marimuthu, Shawn Vasoo, Tsin Wen Yeo, Yi Kai Ng, Lin Cui, Zannatul Ferdous, Po Ying Chia, Bryan Jun Wei Aw, Charmaine Malenab Manauis, Constance Khia Ki Low, Guanhao Chan, Xinyi Peh, Poh Lian Lim, Li Ping Angela Chow, Monica Chan, Vernon Jian Ming Lee, Raymond Tzer Pin Lin, Mok Kwee Derrick Heng , and Yee Sin Leo 

Author affiliations: Ministry of Health Singapore, Singapore (S.E.F. Yong, Z.J.M. Ho, C.K.K. Low, G. Chan, X. Peh, V.J.M. Lee, M.K.D. Heng); National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore (O.T. Ng, T.M. Mak, K. Marimuthu, S. Vasoo, T.W. Yeo, Y.K. Ng, L. Cui, Z. Ferdous, P.Y. Chia, B.J.W. Aw, C.M. Manauis, P.L. Lim, L.P.A. Chow, M. Chan, R.T.P. Lin, Y.S. Leo); National Public Health Laboratory, Singapore (T.M. Mak, Y.K. Ng, L. Cui, R.T.P. Lin); Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore (O.T. Ng, K. Marimuthu, S. Vasoo, T.W. Yeo, Z. Ferdous, P.Y. Chia, B.J.W. Aw, C.M. Manauis, P.L. Lim, L.P.A. Chow, Y.S. Leo); National University Health System, Singapore (S.E.F. Yong); Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (O.T. Ng, P.Y. Chia, P.L. Lim, Y.S. Leo); National University of Singapore, Singapore (K. Marimuthu, P.L. Lim, Y.S. Leo)

Cite This Article

Abstract

In May 2019, we investigated monkeypox in a traveler from Nigeria to Singapore. The public health response included rapid identification of contacts, use of quarantine, and postexposure smallpox vaccination. No secondary cases were identified. Countries should develop surveillance systems to detect emerging infectious diseases globally.

Monkeypox is a zoonosis endemic to West and Central Africa; human cases were first reported in 1970 (1). An outbreak ongoing in Nigeria since 2017 is the largest documented (2). Exported cases in the United Kingdom and Israel were reported from travelers infected in Nigeria in 2018 (3,4). An earlier outbreak of human cases in the United States in 2003 was linked to contact with prairie dogs infected by rodents from Ghana (5).

Singapore is a globally connected city-state in Southeast Asia, placing it at risk for importation of emerging infectious diseases. For this reason, the Singapore Ministry of Health informed frontline medical practitioners in 2018 of the risk for monkeypox. Seven months later, a case of travel-associated monkeypox was diagnosed in Singapore. We present case details and public health management for this case, together with lessons learned and implications for control.