"We have a responsibility to prevent outbreaks from happening in Indonesia. Further research needs to be carried out regarding epidemiology, transmission, and development of new vaccines or therapies to control Mpox," head of the BRIN Health Research Organization, Ni Luh Putu Indi Dharmayanti, noted in an official statement from her office on Wednesday.
She explained that Mpox is caused by several clades, namely clade Ia, clade lb, and clade Ilb. Clade Ia is related to cases that occur in children and adults with more severe clinical manifestations.
Meanwhile, clade lb and Ilb are spread mostly through human-to-human transmission from sexual contact. Strict screening was conducted following the discovery of the Clade Ib variant outside the African region, she added.
In an effort to prevent an increase in Mpox cases, the government is tightening health checks at the country's entry points and reactivating tracking of travelers' mobility through the SATUSEHAT Health Pass application, Dharmayanti stated.
Earlier, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin remarked that the government decided to reactivate the early detection system for infectious diseases to prevent the importation of Mpox disease into the country.
This effort is a surveillance strategy adopted by the government in response to the emergence of the latest Mpox strain with clade Ib, which is deadlier than clade IIb.
"This Ib strain has a higher fatality rate than the previous one. This one has a fatality rate approaching 10 percent as compared to the old variant, which is 0.1 percent," the minister remarked.
Every traveler coming from abroad should scan a barcode or QR code, which records travel history, with yellow, green, and red notifications on the Electronic Surveillance Card.
The Ministry of Health has prepared two PCR machines to detect Mpox symptoms in 30-40 minutes, each stored in Jakarta, Cengkareng, and Bali.
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Translator: Farhan Arda N, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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