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Bureau of Quarantine updates eTravel form to prevent entry of deadly mpox

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Rowegie Abanto

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The Bureau of Quarantine has included an update in the electronic travel (eTravel) form to be filled out by international travelers to prevent the entry of a deadly mpox variant from abroad, the Department of Health said Thursday.</p><p>The eTravel form is an online document that international travelers need to complete before leaving and upon arrival in the country.</p><p>The DOH said should a traveler answer &quot;yes&quot; when asked if they have been sick in the past 30 days, the drop-down list will now include &quot;rashes, vesicles, or blisters,&quot; which are symptoms of mpox. Other common mpox symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.</p><p><span></span>&quot;It is important for all travelers to be honest in answering this question,&quot; the DOH said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/21/marcos-orders-continuous-mpox-surveillance-1305" id="isPasted">READ: Marcos orders continuous mpox surveillance</a></div><p>According to the DOH, the &quot;small yet significant change&quot; in the screening questions of the Bureau of Quarantine could help prevent the entry of mpox cases from abroad, particularly Clade 1b, which is believed to be the more severe form of mpox that is causing global alarm.</p><p>&quot;If by the electronic form, a traveler is determined to be from a country listed by WHO as an outbreak area, or they have a history of exposure to an mpox case, or they have any signs/symptoms, the etravel.gov.ph system will alert&quot; the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Quarantine, the DOH said.</p><div><span></span><span>The traveler will be referred to the Bureau of Quarantine for secondary screening, it said. If the Bureau of Quarantine determines a suspected mpox case, &quot;they will be cared for and properly conducted to an mpox referral hospital,&quot; the health department said.</span></div><p>The highly transmissible Clade 1b strain of the virus has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has also been detected Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Sweden.</p><p>The Philippines has so far detected 14 mpox cases since 2022, with 5 active cases. The DOH said the local mpox cases are the milder Clade 2 variant.</p><div><span></span></div><div><span></span><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/28/active-mpox-cases-in-philippines-hit-5-doh-1137" id="isPasted">READ: Child, woman among new mpox patients; active cases hit 5</a><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2024/8/27/droplets-a-minor-route-of-mpox-transmission-who-716" id="isPasted"></a><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2024/8/27/droplets-a-minor-route-of-mpox-transmission-who-716">READ: Droplets a &#x27;minor&#x27; route of mpox transmission - WHO</a><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2024/8/27/doh-walang-lockdown-sa-mpox-1935" id="isPasted"></a><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2024/8/27/doh-walang-lockdown-sa-mpox-1935">READ: DOH: Walang lockdown sa mpox</a></div><div><strong>—with a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8-PEvTPZ9mE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Bureau of Quarantine has included an update in the electronic travel (eTravel) form to be filled out by international travelers to prevent the entry of a deadly mpox variant from abroad, the Department of Health said Thursday.</p>

The Bureau of Quarantine has included an update in the electronic travel (eTravel) form to be filled out by international travelers to prevent the entry of a deadly mpox variant from abroad, the Department of Health said Thursday.