Turkish authorities have begun monitoring passengers from 12 African countries arriving on international flights at İstanbul Airport for symptoms of the mpox virus, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkish health authorities have said the virus, declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) last week, has not been detected in Turkey so far this year.
According to the new measures announced by the Turkey General Directorate of Border and Coast Health, passengers arriving in Turkey on international flights from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 11 surrounding countries, where the disease is particularly widespread, are being closely monitored.
The directorate’s president, Aykut Yener Kavak, told Anadolu that there is a health team at the airport working round the clock and that the screening of passengers is done meticulously.
Kavak said healthcare personnel welcome the passengers arriving from the DRC at their planes, ask them a number of questions and screen them to see if there are any with symptoms of the mpox virus such as a rash or fever.
He talked about an online monitoring system for the other passengers from countries close to the DRC, without elaborating how the system functions.
Kavak said although there have been some passengers who were suspected of carrying the virus, tests have proven the opposite and that no mpox cases have been detected among passengers at the airport so far.
He said passengers who are suspected of carrying the virus are isolated until they undergo the necessary tests.
Meanwhile, health authorities in Ankara on Thursday denied media reports claiming that four people were put in quarantine at two hospitals in the city for suspected mpox infections.
The provincial health directorate in Ankara in a statement called such reports “unsubstantiated” and aimed at creating panic in the society.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to the WHO. Symptoms include fever, painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
This PHEIC determination is the second in two years relating to mpox. Caused by an Orthopoxvirus, mpox was first detected in humans in 1970, in the DRC. The disease is considered endemic to countries in central and west Africa.
Six WNV infections in Turkey
In a similar development, the Turkish Health Ministry announced on Friday detection of the West Nile Virus (WNV) in six people in the country so far this year.
The virus was first detected in Turkey in 2010. The ministry said treatment of the patients is continuing and that the course of the disease is closely followed by the ministry.
WNV virus is spread by mosquitoes. It has become more widely recognized in Europe in recent years. Travelers are advised take precautions to prevent mosquito bites especially during the summer months.
Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea or rash.
There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat WNV disease in people.
Since the beginning of 2024, nine countries in Europe reported human cases of WNV infection: Austria, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Spain, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.