Swedish Club has advised members that its correspondent Representacoes Proinde Ltda has published its latest circular on port health authority guidelines for monkeypox outbreak in Brazil.
Federal health agency ANVISA has issued recommendations to tackle the transmission of the viral disease in Brazilian ports, airports, and land crossings.
Since May numerous monkeypox virus (MPXV) cases have been observed in countries that historically have not reported the disease. Just three months after this zoonotic virus spread outside the endemic area, comprising seven countries in Central and West Africa, monkeypox had reached more than 80 countries where this infectious disease was uncommon, including Brazil.”
All six WHO regions have now reported cases of monkeypox, and the Club encouraged ship operators to follow the evolution of the outbreak and keep seafarers informed about the risks of infection.
Gard noted that in July the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the escalating global monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This is the highest level of alert that WHO can issue and underlines the organization’s concerns about the rapid spread of the disease.
Gard said that it was critical to keep ship personnel informed about monkeypox through risk communication, e.g., by displaying posters, videos, and message boards.
Meanwhile, Britannia has stated that Britannia’s FD&D insurance, Charterers’ Liability Insurance (CLI) and Additional Insurances (AI) Terms and Conditions contain an exclusion in respect of Communicable Disease Risks.
The details of the scope of this exclusion and write back are set out in the terms of those insurances.
Following the statement made by the Director-General of WHO, the exclusion has now been triggered with effect from July 23rd 2022. Britannia noted that the exclusion did not apply to instances of transmission which took place before 23 July 2022.
