Argentina to quarantine cargo ship after crew member shows symptoms of mpox

Health authorities in Argentina say they will inspect and quarantine a cargo ship in its waters after a crew member showed symptoms of mpox.

Health authorities in Argentina say they will inspect and quarantine a cargo ship in its waters after a crew member showed symptoms of mpox. A spokesperson for the country’s health ministry told CNN the inspection would be carried out by the border health service, which has already contacted the crew. According to the ship tracking service MarineTraffic, the vessel was anchored in a river off its destination in San Lorenzo as of 6:10 p.m. ET. Its previous stop was in Santos, Brazil. Medical personnel will board it and inspect whether the crew member’s symptoms are indeed compatible with mpox. If they are, they will take samples for study. The ship will remain in the harbor and the entire crew will be quarantined until the results of the studies are available. So far, the ministry has not said how many people are on board the Liberia-flagged ship, named Ina-Lotte. On Friday, it called for strengthening border health control measures in Argentina, two days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern due to an outbreak of mpox in parts of Africa.