Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

First Probable Case of Monkeypox Detected in Australia


Fri 20 May 2022 | 10:34 AM
Ahmad El-Assasy

On Friday afternoon, the Australian state of New South Wales revealed the country's first "possible" case of the monkeypox virus, which has been spreading across Europe.

The case involves a 40-year-old NSW guy who recently returned from Europe.

The disease is generally found on the African continent, but it began spreading across the globe in non-endemic countries in May 2022, primarily in the United Kingdom.

Kerry Chant, NSW's Chief Health Officer, said the sickness could not easily transmit between people.

"Monkeypox can be contracted through very close contact with infected inpiduals," Chant explained.

"Most people recover within a few weeks after contracting the infection," she said.

Doctors and health institutions around the state have been notified to be on the lookout for any potential new cases.

Authorities in Victoria, Australia, have also issued a warning to residents about the sickness in returned travellers.

The disease is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox, according to Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

"Although it is a respiratory virus, it rarely spreads easily between humans and only in close touch. In prior investigations, contact infection rates were around 3% "The professor stated.

She claimed that existing smallpox vaccines would work against monkeypox, and that the country should store up on vaccines in case the outbreak spreads further.