Istanbul Airport Chief Physician Dr. Kavak: Flights from 11 African countries with high case numbers, excluding the Democratic Republic of Congo, are under surveillance

Following the emergence of the Mpox virus in 11 Central African countries, primarily the Democratic Republic of Congo, attention has turned to flights from Africa at airports.

Due to concerns regarding flights from Africa, a series of measures have been decided upon at Istanbul Airport, one of the busiest airports in Europe.

The Istanbul Airport Chief Physician's Office of the General Directorate of Border and Coastal Health Services, under the Ministry of Health, held a meeting recently with airport operators and airline companies regarding the measures to be taken.

In particular, African passengers arriving at Istanbul Airport from countries where the virus has been detected have been placed under the lens. In this context, passengers arriving from the 11 identified countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and South Africa) will be monitored.

Istanbul Airport Chief Physician Dr. Aykut Yener Kavak made a statement regarding the Mpox virus.

Dr. Aykut Yener Kavak, Chief Physician of the Istanbul Airport under the General Directorate of Border and Coastal Health Services, provided information on the work carried out at the airport and the monitoring process. Dr. Kavak said, “After the World Health Organization declared a global emergency on August 14, we began monitoring passengers arriving from the African region, especially from the Democratic Republic of Congo, with our existing teams at our airport. We have placed them under observation. On the other hand, we continue our checks by questioning our colleagues about whether there are any case reports from incoming aircraft or if there are any passengers encountered during the flight, and by going to the aircraft door.”

"FLIGHTS FROM 11 AFRICAN COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN TAKEN UNDER SURVEILLANCE"

Emphasizing that flights from 11 African countries with high case numbers, excluding the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been taken under surveillance, Kavak stated, “If there is a suspicious or probable case, this can be reported to the tower or the emergency center by ground services during the flight. When our teams receive this call, they take the case to a more isolated area from where the case is located to evaluate it, and they go and perform the examination. If we see a suspicious case, we will also arrange for its transfer to a designated hospital via 112 for diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

"WE HAVE NOT ENCOUNTERED ANY CASES AT ISTANBUL AIRPORT, WE HAVE NOT TAKEN ANY ADDITIONAL MEASURES"

Stating that there are a total of two quarantine rooms at the airport and that potential cases will be isolated in these rooms, Dr. Aykut Yener Kavak emphasized that they have not encountered such a case to date, neither at Istanbul Airport nor in Turkey.

Drawing attention to the issues that airport personnel and airline companies should pay attention to, Kavak said, “After the World Health Organization declared a global emergency on August 14, we placed these flights under the lens at the airport. On August 17, we held a meeting chaired by our General Manager with the participation of airport stakeholders.

Here, we provided detailed information on ways to protect against the disease and issues that airport staff should pay attention to. At the same time, our Scientific Committee Chairman Prof. Dr. Ateş Kara also attended this meeting online and answered the questions of all participants in detail regarding this disease.

The symptoms of the virus actually specifically include rashes on the body, but before that, of course, there must be symptoms such as fever, infection, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. We have not taken any additional measures at the moment; we are just continuing to monitor,” he said.