Second Monkeypox Case Confirmed In New Zealand

The Ministry of Health has been notified of a second confirmed case of Monkeypox.

The person, who has a record of recent overseas travel, is currently isolating in the Northern region. There is no evidence of community transmission from this case. This case is not linked to the case reported on Saturday, and there is no evidence of any community transmission of Monkeypox.

Public health advice has assessed the risk of transmission from this case as low.

To protect the privacy of the case and contacts, we will be making no further comment on this case.

The Ministry of Health reported the first case of Monkeypox in New Zealand.

Public Health Advice

The majority of people with Monkeypox can be safely managed at home. They are asked to isolate until the scabs from lesions have fallen off. At this point we are asking close contacts to monitor for symptoms for 3 weeks and isolate if symptoms develop.

Monkeypox does not easily spread between people so the risk to the general public is low. Person to person spread may occur through intimate contact with an infected person (including kissing), direct contact with a person’s infected lesions, contact with contaminated bed linen or clothes, and respiratory droplets from an individual with monkeypox.

Since reports of Monkeypox emerged internationally, the Ministry has provided information about the virus on its website. The Ministry has also provided advice to public health units, primary health organisations and sexual health clinics to assist with identifying potential cases.

What should people, particularly those who have recently arrived from countries where Monkeypox is circulating, be looking out for

The first symptoms of Monkeypox include one or more of the following: headache, acute onset of fever (>38.0C), chills, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and body aches, backache and tiredness.

The characteristic rash, which typically looks similar to chicken pox, appears after a few days.

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