MoH has notified all medical practitioners and healthcare institutions to be vigilant in detecting and reporting all mpox cases to MoH immediately, including and especially suspected Clade I infections. Suspected cases will be transferred to hospitals for further assessment and treatment, if necessary.

 

Upon confirmation of a Clade I case, MoH will immediately initiate contact tracing. Close contacts of the case will be quarantined in a designated government quarantine facility. The quarantine period is currently set at 21 days, which is the incubation period observed in Africa.  

 

Testing for mpox is conducted at the National Public Health Laboratory through polymerase chain reaction tests on swabs of skin lesions. Adult cases will be conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) while paediatric cases will be conveyed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. While the mpox Clade I virus appears to be more infectious, it is far less transmissible compared to respiratory viruses such as influenza or COVID-19.  

 

JYNNEOS, a live attenuated (non-replicating) vaccine, has been approved for use in Singapore for protection against mpox and smallpox. The current supply of JYNNEOS is projected to be sufficient based on the current vaccination strategy.