A medical expert has weighed in on how concerned Kiwis should be about a potential monkeypox outbreak after a third case was found in New Zealand.
The case was revealed earlier in the month and had recently returned from overseas. The person is in isolation in the South Island.
The Ministry of Health said the risk to the public is considered low and there is "no evidence of community transmission".
It's a view being backed up by the medical director of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, Dr Bryan Betty, who told Newstalk ZB monkeypox is far less risky than coronavirus.
"In New Zealand, we have only had two to five cases, essentially it has been very, very small," Dr Betty told Newstalk ZB's Jack Tame on Saturday.
"It's very, very different to COVID. So the thing about COVID is it is very transmissible so you can walk into a room full of people, you can cough or sneeze and the virus will come out of your mouth potentially and float around in the air and potentially infect people.
"The thing about monkeypox is that it requires close skin contact, sexual contact or contact with body secretions so it really is that intimate contact that spreads the virus. So it's very unlikely we will have a COVID-type situation here because of the way it spreads and it should be relatively contained through recognising the cases and basically isolation," he told the radio station.
Dr Betty's comments come after an infectious disease expert called on New Zealand to step up its public health response to monkeypox.
Infectious disease and sexual health physician Dr Massimo Giola told Newshub Live at 8pm on Thursday Aotearoa needs to get ahead of the disease.
"We do [need to step up our response] and not just in New Zealand, but worldwide because the outbreak is growing at a very fast pace ... so, yes, it's definitely an alarm bell ringing," Dr Giola told host Rebecca Wright.
Dr Giola said New Zealand needs to act now if we want to avoid seeing the virus spread around the country.
"Well, some also are saying we have already lost the race with the virus worldwide and this becoming an endemic amongst the communities most at risk," he said.
"I guess in New Zealand, we have a pretty unique opportunity to avoid monkeypox getting hold in our population, but we need to act fast if we want to avoid that.".
New Zealand's first case of monkeypox was reported early in July. The person was in their 30s, lived in Auckland and had recently returned from overseas travel in a country with reported cases of monkeypox.
Public health advice
The first symptoms of monkeypox include:
- headache
- acute onset of fever (>38.0C)
- chills
- swollen lymph nodes
- muscle and body aches
- backache
- tiredness
The characteristic rash, which typically looks similar to chicken pox, appears after a few days.
Cases of monkeypox outside countries where monkeypox is widely spread have mostly been identified amongst men who have sex with men, and international cases have been clustered around events where this occurs.
Anyone who's been overseas and attended events connected with the spread of monkeypox is asked to be aware of any symptoms and seek advice, either by contacting your GP or Healthline free on 0800 611 116, or get in touch with a sexual health clinic.
Health professionals are being reminded to remain vigilant for any possible cases of monkeypox, particularly in people who have recently arrived from countries reporting cases.
The health ministry has said the majority of people with monkeypox can be safely managed at home and there have been very few deaths from the disease globally.
