South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit director Dr Vicky Sheppeard said gay,bisexual and other men who have sex with men needed to be on the lookout for symptoms of the disease - which has since been renamed “mpox”.
Dr Sheppeard also encouraged those who hadn’t already been vaccinated against the disease to get the jab.
A man receives a monkeypox vaccine in Canada.AP
“While our vaccination program against mpox,combined with people at risk who are monitoring for symptoms,has been very successful in controlling the spread in NSW,as long as cases continue in other countries,there is a risk of new cases here,” she said.
“In NSW there were 56 mpox cases between May and November 2022. We believe that rapid rollout of the vaccination program to people at high risk of mpox and the reduction in the number of cases in the northern hemisphere both contributed to the lack of new cases in NSW until now.”
So far,all cases of mpox detected in NSW have occurred in men who have sex with men with most cases contracted while travelling overseas.
However,this new case was not associated with overseas travel and is believed to have been locally transmitted.
Since May 2022,more than 87,000 cases of mpox have been reported globally. All people in NSW who contracted mpox have recovered,however,there have been deaths caused by the disease overseas.
Mpox spreads through close person-to-person contact and causes small pimple-like lesions on the skin. Symptoms include mild fever,headache,fatigue or swollen lymph nodes.
In November,the World Health Organisation recommended the name “monkeypox” be phased out and changed to mpox following complaints the association with the word “monkey” conjured racist tropes and stigmatised patients.