NewsDesk @ bactiman63
New Zealand health authorities have reported the first case of smallpox in the country.
New Zealand / NASA / JPL / NIMA
The person is about 30 years old, lives in Auckland and has recently returned from a trip abroad to a country with reported cases of Monkeypox.
Given the increase in cases internationally, including Australia, the arrival in New Zealand was not unexpected.
There are a very small number of contacts in the case who are advised to be alert to symptoms. There is no evidence of community transmission.
Monkeypox cases outside endemic countries have been identified primarily between gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men, and international cases have been grouped around events where this happens.
The first symptoms of monkeypox include one or more of the following: headache, acute onset of fever (> 38.0ºC), chills, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and body aches, back pain and fatigue. The characteristic rash, which usually resembles chickenpox, appears after a few days.
Most people with Monkeypox can be safely managed at home and there have been very few deaths from Monkeypox worldwide.