We thank Sookaromdee and colleagues for comments on our case report.1 We agree that Taiwan is unique in having strict border control measures for COVID-19 pandemic remaining in place at the time the monkeypox outbreak began worldwide in June, 2022, which effectively prevented further local spread within the country. As of Oct 9, 2022, there is only 4 cases of confirmed monkeypox in Taiwan. In contrast to previous reports of incident cases in foreign tourists, this first case of monkeypox was in a Taiwanese man with a travel history. The high alertness leading to rapid diagnosis in marginalized communities was attributable to the holistic care provided for people living with HIV in Taiwan by a team of infectious disease specialists and HIV case managers. With the steady easing of border control measures to end quarantine in arriving international travelers, starting from Oct 13, 2022,2 increased vigilance for monkeypox cases is crucial to avert an inflow of imported cases leading to local transmissions and outbreak among high risk populations. Despite monkeypox being declared a public health emergency of international concern on July 23, 2022 by the World Health Organization, a push to increase preparedness and prevention measures by governments is needed to tackle both the outbreak and associated stigma in order to mitigate this global outbreak.3, 4, 5
Declaration of competing interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.
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