Australia announced today the first case smallpox of monkeys on its territory to a traveler who had recently returned from Britain, while another suspected case has been identified which is being controlled.
A 30-year-old man who arrived in Melbourne on Monday is the first case of the disease in Australia, the state health service of Victoria announced. The suspected case has been found in Sydney to a man about 40 years old who had recently traveled to Britain.
Both men showed mild symptoms similar to those of monkey pox when they returned to Australia.
«To reassure citizens, the mechanism of spread is not the same as that of covid or the fluSaid Carrie Chad, head of public health in the state of New South Wales.
Outbreaks appear to be exacerbated in West Africa in recent weeks in Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Canada and the United States.
Australian health authorities have taken steps to detect and manage any cases of smallpox in monkeys, Chad said.
Monkey pox is a rare, infectious disease, similar to human pox that was eradicated in 1980. Although it is milder and most patients recover within a few weeks, in rare cases it can be fatal.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. Patients may also develop skin rashes, which often start on the face and spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals.
There is no cure for monkey pox, which is transmitted through contact with an infected patient or body fluids, including saliva. The disease usually resolves on its own.
The disease is usually transmitted to humans by various wild animals, such as rodents or monkeys.
The increase in outbreaks is a cause for concern, and the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it is looking closely at some of the cases in Britain that appear to have spread within the gay community.
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