Low risk of Congo mystery disease spreading to Singapore: MOH

Travellers walk through a transit hall at Changi Airport in Singapore on May 13, 2022. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: The risk of the mystery disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spreading to Singapore is low, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Dec 10).
The ministry noted that the outbreak has been localised within Congo's Panzi health zone.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the undiagnosed disease is spreading mainly among children and putting severely malnourished people at risk.
A total of 406 cases were recorded between Oct 24 and Dec 5, of which 31 were fatal.
Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches.
"Based on available information, the WHO assessed that the risk at the regional and global levels remains low," MOH said in response to CNA's queries.
"The risk of importation of the disease from the DRC to Singapore is assessed to be low, given the low travel volume and lack of direct flights between DRC and Singapore."
Hong Kong authorities recently stepped up health screening measures for all flights arriving from African transit hubs to guard against the unidentified disease in Congo.
While there are no direct flights between Congo and Hong Kong, travellers from the country typically reach the city through African transit hubs, particularly Johannesburg in South Africa and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
According to Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection, travellers will undergo temperature checks, with health personnel conducting medical assessments for those with symptoms and referring suspected cases to hospitals for examination.
Singapore's health ministry said that as part of its ongoing border health measures to detect infectious diseases of concern, all incoming travellers are already required to declare symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath via an electronic health declaration.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and calibrate our response measures based on the prevailing public health risk," it added.