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Lombok International Airport begins scanning passengers for monkeypox
There has not been a human case reported among passengers at Lombok International Airport.
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The management of Lombok International Airport (LIA) in West Nusa Tenggara with the port health office (KKP) has heightened the monitoring of passengers arriving from Singapore after the city-state reported its first human case of the rare monkeypox virus. (shutterstock/-)
T
he management of Lombok International Airport (LIA) in West Nusa Tenggara with the port health office (KKP) has heightened the monitoring of passengers arriving from Singapore after the city-state reported its first human case of the rare monkeypox virus.
Singapore reported over the weekend that it had identified a case of monkeypox brought in by a Nigerian man. The country has isolated the patient and 23 other people who have been in contact with the patient to prevent the virus from spreading, Indonesian Health Ministry disease control and prevention director general Anung Sugihantono said in a statement on Wednesday.
LIA general manager Nugroho Jati told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the KKP was monitoring closely the passengers of SilkAir, which operates a direct flight from Singapore to Lombok four times a week.
Passengers arriving from Singapore are required to go through thermal scanners, which were installed at the arrival gate of the airport on May 13, he added.
The KKP would take necessary measures if passengers were suspected of carrying the virus. Monkeypox symptoms in humans include lesions, fever, muscle aches and chills.
The airport's management has also prepared a special track for suspected patients to prevent contamination, Nugroho said.
"We are also monitoring the cabin of the carrier arriving from Singapore at the LIA while following updates regarding the status of monkeypox in Singapore," he added.
He said there has not been a human case reported among passengers at the LIA.
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that emerged in remote parts of Central and West Africa in the 1970s.
It can be transmitted via close contact with infected animals such as rodents and monkeys and is limited between people. It is not normally fatal but has been in rare cases.
