A warning has been issued at three major airports in Bangladesh due to the rapid global spread of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox.
The airports are Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, and Sylhet Osmani International Airport.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) announced the alert in a circular on Saturday (August 17). The decision followed a meeting held on Friday (August 16) at HSIA.
The meeting, organised in response to the World Health Organization's (WHO) global public health alert on mpox, included representatives from CAAB, the Airport Authority, airlines, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the Airport Health Department.
Airlines have been instructed to remain vigilant and immediately notify the health department if any passengers display symptoms of mpox. Passengers are also urged to contact the health hotline at 10655 if they experience symptoms within 21 days of arrival.
The notification further mentioned that HSIA's Health Department has already implemented measures to manage symptomatic passengers. These include distributing informational leaflets, staffing arrival health desks with doctors 24/7, and screening passengers' temperatures using thermal scanners. Symptomatic passengers, if identified, will be transported to Kurmitola General Hospital, Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), or Kuwait Maitri Hospital.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of mpox in parts of Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as a public health emergency, with at least 450 fatalities reported.
The meeting was presided over by Operations Member Air Commodore AFM Atikuzzaman and included key officials such as Group Captain M. Kamrul Islam, Executive Director of HSIA, Sheikh Dawood Adnan, Director of CDC, DGHS, and Dr. Nasir Ahmed Khan, Senior Advisor for International Health Regulations (IHR), along with representatives from WHO, airlines, and HSIA's Health Department.