BOQ updates eTravel form to prevent mpox spread — DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday announced that the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) has updated the eTravel form for international travelers to prevent the additional entry of mpox cases.

In a message to reporters, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo explained this is to prevent the entry of the more dangerous and transmissible mpox Clade 1b strain.

Domingo said that if a traveler answers "yes," when asked if they have been sick in the past 30 days, the drop-down list will now include the option "rashes, vesicles, or blisters."

"It is important for all travelers to be honest in answering this question," Domingo stressed.

If by the electronic form, a traveler is determined to be from a country listed by the World Health Organization 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 the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the BOQ, the Health official explained.

"The passenger will be referred by BI to BOQ for secondary screening," Domingo said.

"If upon the assessment of BOQ personnel, a traveler is determined to be a suspect case, they will be cared for and properly conducted to an mpox referral hospital," he added.

The DOH on Wednesday reported two more mpox cases, bringing the total case count to 14 since July 2022.

Nine cases have long recovered since 2023. Five are active cases waiting for symptoms to resolve.

Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last two to four weeks.

The rashes are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

Anyone can get mpox and mpox can be transmitted to humans through close, intimate contact with someone infectious, contaminated materials like used clothes or utensils, or infected animals.