This undated photo shows the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, Hong Kong. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
HOGN KONG – The Hong Kong government gazetted on Friday the inclusion of monkeypox as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease and unveiled a response plan which will be activated if there is a outbreak in the financial hub.
Hong Kong has not reported any monkeypox human infections so far, a spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection said in a statement.
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To enhance the city’s response capability on the disease, the government has included monkeypox as a scheduled infectious disease under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap 599) and identified it as a specified disease under the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap 599A).
The government has adopted a three-tier response level of Alert, Serious and Emergency, which will be activated based on risk assessment and the health impact brought by monkeypox on the community
According to the regulation, doctors must notify the Department of Health if they suspect any monkeypox case, the spokesman said.
The government has also adopted a three-tier response level of Alert, Serious and Emergency, which will be activated based on risk assessment and the health impact brought by monkeypox on the community.
The spokesman noted that the government has provided a framework of a response system for coordination between different government departments and organizations for better response in case of an outbreak, the spokesman said.
“People who have symptoms of monkeypox, including fever, severe headache, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, mouth ulcers and a rash, should seek medical attention as soon as possible,” according to the spokesman.
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Twenty-nine non-endemic countries or regions have reported a total of more than 1,000 cases in the current outbreak, which began in May, according to the World Health Organization.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of monkeypox becoming established in the non-endemic regions was real but preventable at this point. No deaths have been reported so far.