Brit causes monkeypox outbreak in Australia after reporting first virus case – World News

Two men in their 30s and 40s contracted the disease called monkeypox, which is characterized by a rash, on returning to Australia from Europe and are now isolating with the rare virus

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Monkeypox: UK health agency is urging people to watch out for symptoms

Australia has reported its first case of monkeypox from someone who recently traveled from the UK.

A second case of the virus has been confirmed in a man in New South Wales who also recently returned to the country from Europe.

Both men, in their 30s and 40s, are showing mild symptoms but those clinically compatible with monkeypox, health officials said.

The man, in his 30s, arrived in Melbourne on Monday, the Victoria state health department said, while the second case was identified in Sydney in a man in his 40s.

dr New South Wales state chief health officer Kerry Chant said a preliminary test on the Sydney man came back positive and subsequent tests confirmed the case.

She said: “Just to reassure the community it’s not the same mechanism of spread as Covid or flu where it’s more volatile.”

Victoria’s Health Board said on Friday: “Tests have confirmed he has the virus and he remains isolated at the Alfred with mild symptoms.”

Monkeypox is typically found primarily in central and western Africa, often near tropical rainforests, and is thought to be endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was first discovered in the 1970s.

However, in recent weeks it has been identified in several non-endemic countries, including the UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Canada and the United States.

According to the UK Health Agency, symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and chills.

The UKHSA says: “A rash can develop, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body, including the genitals.

“The rash changes and goes through different stages and can look like chickenpox or syphilis before eventually forming a scab that later falls off.”

Monkeypox is spread through prolonged personal contact with people infected with the virus, often through large respiratory droplets.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said state health officials are monitoring the situation closely but believes it is “far less contagious” than Covid and “things of that nature”.

He continued: “We should take this seriously [but] At the same time, I would like to say that nobody should be alarmed at this point. We have the best health authorities in the world.”

The state’s chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton, said the death rate is between 1 percent and 5 percent.

Canada also reported its first two confirmed cases of monkeypox Thursday night, with 17 more cases being investigated in Montreal.

The Sydney man and a household contact are both isolating at home.