Australia reports first monkeypox case in traveller from Britain
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia on Friday reported its first monkeypox case in a traveller who just lately returned from Britain, whereas a possible case of an infection was recognized with testing being carried out to substantiate it.
A person in his 30s who arrived in Melbourne on Monday has the virus, Victoria state’s well being division stated, whereas the possible case was recognized in Sydney in a person in his 40s who had just lately travelled to Europe.
Each males developed delicate sickness after arriving again in Australia with signs clinically suitable with monkeypox, well being officers stated.
“Simply to reassure the neighborhood, it isn’t the identical unfold mechanism as COVID or flu, the place it’s extra fleeting,” New South Wales state Chief Well being Officer Kerry Chant advised reporters.
Circumstances of monkeypox have been recognized in a number of non-endemic international locations in latest weeks, together with Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Canada and america.
Monkeypox, which largely happens in west and central Africa, is a uncommon virus just like human smallpox, although milder. It was first recorded within the Democratic Republic of Congo within the Seventies. Circumstances in West Africa have elevated prior to now decade.
Signs embody fever, complications and pores and skin rashes beginning on the face and spreading to the remainder of the physique. Individuals can contract monkeypox by way of very shut contact with those that are contaminated with the virus.
Australian well being officers have taken steps to determine and handle any monkeypox circumstances together with medical alerts to docs and hospitals, Chant stated.
(Reporting by Renju Jose; Enhancing by Christopher Cushing and Sam Holmes)
