China releases lists of diseases for border quarantine measures

China on Monday released lists of infectious diseases for which border quarantine and prevention measures are authorized in a bid to promptly curb their spread, according to a notice jointly released by the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention and the General Administration of Customs.

The catalog for diseases that are subject to border quarantine include plague, cholera, yellow fever, Ebola and seven other highly contagious and potentially lethal illnesses. Local customs will be authorized to take on-site prevention measures on confirmed or suspected patients and informed local disease control and prevention authorities to transfer patients to designated hospitals for isolation, treatment, or medical observation.

The list for diseases that will be closely monitored is comprised of 26 illnesses including the COVID-19 virus, HIV/AIDS, measles, and mpox. Local customs will remind incoming travelers suspected of contracting the disease to visit hospitals for screening and local hospitals will prioritize attending to their medical needs.

The two disease catalogs, which will take effect on Wednesday, have been released following a new amendment to the Law on Frontier Health and Quarantine that passed in late June. It requires formulation of lists to help identify infections among cross-border travelers, deliver necessary medical services and implement control measures.

"Carrying out surveillance of key contagious diseases early at ports of entry will be instrumental in detecting and cutting cross-border transmission of epidemics," said the National Administration of Disease Control and Administration in a statement released on Monday.

The administration stressed that the range of listed diseases are defined in a way to strike a balance between ensuring effective disease prevention and guaranteeing convenience of customs clearance.

"Except for thermal scanning, medical patrols, and other noninvasive action, additional measures such as epidemiological investigations will only be rolled out among the very few who exhibit abnormal symptoms rather than among all travelers," the administration said.

It added that customs officials have worked to upgrade quarantine procedures, and research and deploy smart quarantine tools to improve work efficiency.

The administration said that authorities of customs, disease control and health will continue to improve their communication and cooperation mechanism, strengthen information sharing of infections at ports of entry as well as step up training of public health and medical professionals.

Efforts will also be made to coordinate quarantine measures at ports of entry, medical screening and inspections on the domestic soil and implementation of isolation and treatment so as to ensure that patients can receive timely treatment and bar the spread of pathogens.

The administration also reminds cross-border travelers to report health condition to customs when experiencing suspicious symptoms such as fever, coughing and breathing difficulties, or being diagnosed with such illnesses.