NSW reports local case of monkeypox, urges at-risk groups to be vigilant

A resident of NSW has contracted the monkeypox virus inside the state, with health authorities telling people to be vigilant for symptoms.

There are 42 confirmed cases of monkeypox in NSW. Source: Getty / Pablo Blazquez Dominguez

Key Points

• NSW Health executive director of health protection Dr Richard Broome said people needed to be vigilant for symptoms.
• Symptoms include rashes, lesions or sores as well as fevers, aches and swollen lymph nodes.

A NSW resident has been infected with monkeypox in their home state.

The majority of cases so far have been acquired overseas but the new transmission has prompted a warning from state health authorities.

NSW Health executive director of health protection Dr Richard Broome said people needed to be vigilant for symptoms regardless of having returned from overseas.

"It is important that people with these symptoms avoid close contact with others, including sexual activity, as condoms are not effective at preventing the transmission of monkeypox," Dr Broome said.

Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men are some of the most at risk of contracting the virus.

Symptoms include rashes, lesions or sores - particularly around the genitals - as well as fevers, aches and swollen lymph nodes.

Person-to-person transmission occurs with very close contact with infected people, including skin-to skin contact during intimate activity.

Symptoms usually begin to show seven to 14 days after infection.

There are 42 confirmed cases of monkeypox in NSW, including the recent local infection, as well as two other cases who acquired it elsewhere in Australia.

On Saturday the Victorian health department warned at-risk groups to limit their sexual partners and receive the latest smallpox vaccine to protect themselves, as cases rise across the state.

A vaccine has only recently begun to be rolled out to high risk groups with another round due next month.

The federal government secured 450,000 doses of the third generation Jynneos smallpox vaccine earlier this month, with the first delivery of 22,000 doses distributed around the country.

The remainder of the vaccines will arrive on Australian shores later this year and into early 2023.

Australia's first monkeypox case was recorded in May.

The World Health Organization last month declared monkeypox a public health emergency 

of international concern.

There have been more than 35,000 cases of the disease around the world and 12 related deaths, the health organisation reports.

The disease is endemic in Central and West Africa and has also been identified in parts of Europe.

It is usually spread through contact with animals or consumption of wild game.