Thailand’s health crackdown: Screening mpox-treme measures

[webfact]

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health is on high alert, ramping up passenger screening like never before to fend off a potential mpox outbreak. This drastic measure comes hot on the heels of the World Health Organisation (WHO) slapping a “public health emergency of international concern” label on the situation, following a surge of mpox cases in several African nations.

 

Dr Weerawat Manosuthi, the voice of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), reassured the public that Thailand is still holding steady.

 

“Rest assured, the situation here is under control.”

 

Mpox, deemed a serious threat under the Communicable Disease Act BE 2558 (2015), demands immediate notification to health authorities if detected. According to the latest figures from the DDC, Thailand has seen 827 cases and 11 fatalities from January 1, 2022, up to yesterday. And get this—men make up a whopping 97.46% of those affected, Dr Weerawat revealed.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Thailand’s mpox cases have dropped compared to last year, thanks to a vigorous public information campaign. Dr Weerawat highlighted the department’s careful and proactive approach to managing the crisis.

The primary mpox strain affecting African countries, known as “clade I,” is more dangerous than other strains. Thankfully, this strain has not been detected in Thailand, said Dr Weerawat.

 

“We have prepared necessary measures to prevent the disease infections, including at the borders and international airports. They must report to the public health authority if they have [mpox] symptoms.”

 

The department has distributed medical guidelines to all hospitals nationwide to ensure close monitoring and identification of any suspected clade I cases. Additionally, a specialised team has been assembled to investigate suspected cases, provide necessary medication, and conduct laboratory tests across the country.

 

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, on August 14 highlighted the upsurge of mpox in DR Congo and other central African nations as a PHEIC.

 

“The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern [DR Congo], and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying.

 

“On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

 

by Bob Scott
Picture courtesy of The Indian Express

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-08-16

 

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[connda]

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

Mpox, deemed a serious threat under the Communicable Disease Act BE 2558 (2015), demands immediate notification to health authorities if detected. According to the latest figures from the DDC, Thailand has seen 827 cases and 11 fatalities from January 1, 2022, up to yesterday. And get this—men make up a whopping 97.46% of those affected, Dr Weerawat revealed.

Gosh - I wonder why???   🤔 🙉 🙈 🙊🍆

[ourmanflint]

time to ban all flights from West Africa and those with west african passports. Screening will not be enouh=gh

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

“We have prepared necessary measures to prevent the disease infections, including at the borders and international airports. They must report to the public health authority if they have [mpox] symptoms.”

That's really fail-safe.

[ikke1959]

a new lockdown is coming??? Panicking and news that is out of proportion already.. Always panicking news to scare people in Thailand.. Good for Anutin to blame again the foreigners that brings the Mpox in

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post mentioning "ChinkPox"

[Guderian]

Where's Anutin when you need him, handing out masks at the airport and shouting at 'dirty foreigners', only at Africans this time? lol

[bkknirvana]

I am more concerned that the head of WHO still hasn't been tried for war crimes, although I expect that may have helped him get the role.

[Bday Prang]

So now its called "M Pox" because apparently "monkey pox" is considered to be "racist"   I wonder about the thought process that led to that decision.  are we really concerned with offending  monkeys ?

[PremiumLane]

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

a new lockdown is coming??? Panicking and news that is out of proportion already.. Always panicking news to scare people in Thailand.. Good for Anutin to blame again the foreigners that brings the Mpox in

 

You are literally panicking yourself

[Smokey and the Bandit]

43 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

So now its called "M Pox" because apparently "monkey pox" is considered to be "racist"   I wonder about the thought process that led to that decision.  are we really concerned with offending  monkeys ?

You are absolutely correct.

"The World Health Organization will now refer to monkeypox as “mpox,” following criticisms of the prior name’s offensive origins. "

https://www.them.us/story/monkeypox-mpox-who-name-change

 

So when we go to the zoo with our kids, what are we supposed to call monkeys?

 

Edited August 16 by Smokey and the Bandit

[rattlesnake]

Get your shots, everyone, Pfizer has quarterly revenue goals to meet.

[Bday Prang]

1 minute ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

You are absolutely correct.

"The World Health Organization will now refer to monkeypox as “mpox,” following criticisms of the prior name’s offensive origins. "

https://www.them.us/story/monkeypox-mpox-who-name-change

 

So when we go to the zoo with our kids, what are we supposed to call monkeys?

 

 good question, I hadn't thought of that.

 

               Joking aside I find this all rather worrying,  not the disease itself  , but the media's predictable response.   I'm in the UK at the moment and its already getting plenty of coverage on the news. Various "experts" are emerging,  there is already plenty of talk about vaccines, and apparently various health authorities are "preparing", presumably  for " the worst" following advice from the WHO. 

              One "expert" gloomily seizing the opportunity to remind us that lockdowns are most effective when enforced quickly and strictly enforced

              All we need is a government spokesman to utter the phrase "no need to panic" and  there will be fist fights over toilet rolls in supermarket carparks again

[Bday Prang]

34 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

 

You are literally panicking yourself

No need for anybody to panic themselves, there will be no shortage of experts with charts and statistics along shortly , with the sole intention of doing just that.   

[Amethyst]

A news topic trolling post has been removed.

 

[Tomtomtom69]

As usual, the Thai medical police state goes into panic mode over nothing.

 

I won't be complying with any measures. Like last time, I won't be wearing a mask. I'll just go everywhere unmasked. No one can force me to do anything against my will. 

 

I know a good lawyer who successfully sued the Thai government about this last time and he and his family were able to go everywhere they wanted mask-free throughout the entirety of the Covid "pandemic".

 

Similarly, I won't be vaccinated. It's not happening. 

 

[Tomtomtom69]

4 hours ago, Guderian said:

Where's Anutin when you need him, handing out masks at the airport and shouting at 'dirty foreigners', only at Africans this time? lol

 

Like last time, I won't be wearing a mask ever. 

[theblether]

6 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

time to ban all flights from West Africa and those with west african passports. Screening will not be enouh=gh

 

Need to ban flights from Sweden and Pakistan too as they have already reported cases. Or maybe we can all just calm down. 

[theblether]

8 minutes ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

As usual, the Thai medical police state goes into panic mode over nothing.

 

I won't be complying with any measures. Like last time, I won't be wearing a mask. I'll just go everywhere unmasked. No one can force me to do anything against my will. 

 

I know a good lawyer who successfully sued the Thai government about this last time and he and his family were able to go everywhere they wanted mask-free throughout the entirety of the Covid "pandemic".

 

Similarly, I won't be vaccinated. It's not happening. 

 

 

As I was saying about panicking.............what an overreaction. 

 

Anyway, most Westerners aged over 60 have had the smallpox vaccine already. There's some debate as to how effective it will be but the received wisdom is that those that had the vaccine will avoid the ( unlikely anyway ) fatal outcome. 

[Tomtomtom69]

6 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

time to ban all flights from West Africa and those with west african passports. Screening will not be enouh=gh

Laos did that in mid 2022. They simply banned arrivals from and citizens of most West African countries. 

[Denim]

2 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

So when we go to the zoo with our kids, what are we supposed to call monkeys?

 

Try politicians. Not a lot of difference.

[JingerBen]

Don't panic.

Just don't have any close contact with monkeys.

[SingAPorn]

Avoid soapys and prostitutes for a while as it can spread fast.

[englishoak]

Plenty of scared conditioned fools still out there.

 

Que  panic and vaccine scam 2.0.. 

 

[nakhonandy]

Having looked this up on the UK government website, the chances of getting this are miniscule for the majority. 

[lamyai3]

On 8/16/2024 at 4:50 PM, Smokey and the Bandit said:

So when we go to the zoo with our kids, what are we supposed to call monkeys?

 

M&M's

[Tomtomtom69]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:18 AM, nakhonandy said:

Having looked this up on the UK government website, the chances of getting this are miniscule for the majority. 

 

Interesting how different governments are reacting. Switzerland, which has a reputation for being more conservative and protecting people's rights (relative to most other western countries) isn't planning any vaccination campaigns or any measures against this.

 

On the other hand, an Australian tourism lecturer is fear mongering, suggesting that countries might screen arrivals before entering or introduce mandatory vaccination for hard hit countries (well, I can see the Congo introducing it or countries requiring it for arrivals from there) but not in general terms, if travel does not involve Central or West Africa. Australia for its part is "being urged" to screen for monkeypox at the borders.

 

China is doing monkeypox screening of arrivals from abroad and goods for 6 months, but unless you have actual symptoms, you'll not even notice the process as 99.99% of people will be passing through without incident.

 

China has employed Thermal scanners at all entry points into the country for something like 20 years now. 

[DrJack54]

Several bickering posts removed. Quit.