Development of a partnership between academia, community, and government in response to the 2022 mpox outbreak in Japan.

Objectives　In response to the steady rise in the number of cases of mpox in nonendemic countries, starting with an outbreak in the United Kingdom in May 2022, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on July 23, 2022. As of November 13, 2022, seven cases of mpox have been reported in Japan.Methods　A community engagement approach was applied to prevent the spread of mpox in Japan.Results　A tripartite partnership between academia, community, and government (ACG) was established to promote multisectoral communication between vulnerable communities, medical personnel involved in diagnosis and treatment, public health specialists at public health centers, epidemiologists at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), and government and public administration. Through information sharing, this ACG partnership can translate accurate information into effective infection control measures.Conclusion　By developing and maintaining the ACG partnership, an environment will be created that allows an immediate response to future public health crises affecting vulnerable communities. This Practice Report describes the process of establishing an ACG partnership.

Impact of airline network on the global importation risk of mpox, 2022.

From 1 January 2022 to 4 September 2022, a total of 53 996 mpox cases were confirmed globally. Cases are predominantly concentrated in Europe and the Americas, while other regions are also continuously observing imported cases. This study aimed to estimate the potential global risk of mpox importation and consider hypothetical scenarios of travel restrictions by varying passenger volumes (PVs) via airline travel network. PV data for the airline network, and the time of first confirmed mpox case for a total of 1680 airports in 176 countries (and territories) were extracted from publicly available data sources. A survival analysis technique in which the hazard function was a function of effective distance was utilised to estimate the importation risk. The arrival time ranged from 9 to 48 days since the first case was identified in the UK on 6 May 2022. The estimated risk of importation showed that regardless of the geographic region, most locations will have an intensified importation risk by 31 December 2022. Travel restrictions scenarios had a minor impact on the global airline importation risk against mpox, highlighting the importance to enhance local capacities for the identification of mpox and to be prepared to carry out contact tracing and isolation.

Enhanced event-based surveillance for imported diseases during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In 2021, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, undertook enhanced event-based surveillance (EBS) for infectious diseases occurring overseas that have potential for importation (excluding coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games (the Games). The pre-existing EBS system was enhanced using the World Health Organization Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources system and the BlueDot Epidemic Intelligence platform. The enhanced EBS before and during the Games did not detect any major public health event that would warrant action for the Games. However, information from multiple sources helped us identify events, characterize risk and improve confidence in risk assessment. The collaboration also reduced the surveillance workload of the host country, while ensuring the quality of surveillance, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.