Aussies Travelling to Bali Require ‘Health Pass’ Asking About Mpox

Australians travelling to Bali are now required to complete an electronic health declaration amid the mpox (monkeypox) outbreak.
The Department of Foreign Affairs’s Smartraveller website warned Australians if they have mpox symptoms, they could be sent to an Indonesian hospital.
This comes after World Health Organisation (WHO) director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the disease a global emergency on Aug. 14.
Foreign Affairs warned Australians they would need to fill out the health pass form online before checking in.
The advisory, current on Sept. 2, also warned travellers that Indonesia’s health system is not up to the same standard as Australia.
“Did you have close contact with a person who has any symptom leading to monkeypox (mpox) disease or animal such as rodent or primate in the past 21 days prior to your arrival in Indonesia?” the form asks.
Further, individuals are asked if they have symptoms, such as fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, stiff neck, yellow eyes, headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, backache, skin lesions, rashes, patches, cough, and sore throat.
It means that UNICEF will set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr. Clare Looker recently warned that mpox cases were on the rise and are mostly impacting men.
“Consider limiting the number of your sexual partners during the current outbreak and ensure that you have their contact details so that if a partner develops Mpox you can be contacted and offered vaccination.”
Mpox spreads through close skin-to-skin contact or via contaminated items or surfaces and respiratory droplets, the Victorian Health Department noted.
NSW Health also issued an advisory in mid-August, recommending vaccines for those at high risk of developing mpox.
The WHO’s public health emergency declaration was in response to the Clade Ib strain of the virus.
“Clade one (I) is endemic in central Africa and typically causes more severe disease than clade two (II), which is endemic to west Africa,” the WHO said at the time.
Murdoch University Immunology Professor Cassandra Berry said although mpox is much less dangerous than smallpox, some strains can be fatal.
She said the virus can be caught from infected rodents, squirrels, monkeys and infected humans.
“So, it is important to monitor this African virus outbreak and other countries via biosecurity surveillance.”