Asia on high alert for monkeypox as cases reported from India to Japan

Japanese authorities on Monday announced the first detected case of monkeypox in the country — a Tokyo resident in his 30s who had returned from Europe in mid-July. The man had developed fatigue followed by a fever, rash and headache, Health Ministry officials Elsewhere in Asia, countries including Singapore and India reported new cases.Singapore’s Ministry of Health has confirmed 10 cases in total, including locally transmitted infections and patients who had recently traveled from Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.India is also on high alert after confirming its fourth monkeypox case in the capital Delhi on Monday. A 34-year-old man was admitted to hospital with rashes and a fever that had lasted two weeks. The first three cases were detected in the southern state of Kerala in travelers who had arrived from the United Arab Emirates. Airport screenings have since been stepped up and a high-level medical team deployed to Kerala to assist state health authorities with medical research, Indian authorities said.In a statement Tuesday, WHO regional director Poonam K. Singh said the risk of a monkeypox outbreak in Southeast Asia was “moderate but the potential of its further international spread is real.” Anyone can get monkeypox, but a “notable fraction” of cases in the global outbreak are among gay and bisexual men, according to the CDC.That doesn’t mean the virus is sexually transmitted, but officials say it shows that prolonged skin-to-skin contact is one of the major ways monkeypox is now spreading.”We need to stay alert and be prepared to roll out an intense response to curtail the spread of monkeypox,” said Singh from WHO. “Our efforts and measures should be sensitive and devoid of stigma and discrimination.”