Wednesday 18 May 2022 05:04 AM Australian health authorities on high alert over deadly 'monkeypox' virus trends now
Australian health authorities are on high alert over fears a global outbreak of deadly monkeypox could arrive Down Under after the UK was rocked by a string of cases.
One in ten of those infected dies from the rare African-originated disease which leaves victims pockmarked with painful, ugly blisters and rashes over their body.
It's highly infectious between people in close proximity but can only be spread through bodily fluids or very close face-to-face contact in droplets of breath.
NSW Health warns on its website: 'Although monkeypox is much milder than smallpox, it can be fatal.'
Australian health authorities are on high alert over fears a global outbreak of deadly monkeypox could arrive Down Under after the UK was rocked by a string of cases
In the UK, the virus outbreak appears to have been confined to gay or bisexual men - but none of the latest cases had a direct connection with Africa.
Australian medics have been told to watch out for symptoms which can be confused with less dangerous conditions like chickenpox, measles, syphilis or shingles.
There is concern the disease could enter the country through international travellers arriving in Australia from the US, UK or Africa.
'Human mobility within and across national borders is in many ways a critical factor in all of this,' Sydney's Macquarie University Emeritus Professor Peter Curson told Daily Mail Australia.
'There is little doubt that as far as infectious disease is concerned we inhabit a borderless world, and in the last 20-odd years more people are going to exotic locations
Macquarie University Emeritus Professor Peter Curson warns that it will be very difficult to prevent the spread of monkeypox
'It really would only take one or two cases and given the tremendous amount of travel around the world now, it's quite possible we could see it in Australia.'
He added: 'It's certainly a serious viral infection once it's broken out and it would be very difficult to screen for it.
'We really do not fully understand what it is how it is or what we should do.'
'We're really not fully apprised of how to control it or what drugs to use, or indeed, perhaps, to recognise some of the symptoms early on.
'You can go and visit a place like the Congo or Nigeria, be exposed to an infection. and a week or two later, get a flight to Australia showing no symptoms.
'And yet within a week or two after that you can go down with an interesting viral infection.'
He said the Covid pandemic had shown medical science was still in a life or death battle with disease.
'We do honestly believe that we have beaten have won the fight against infectious diseases, but nothing can be further from the truth as Covid demonstrated,' he said.
'Given the tremendous movement of people around the world - and the quickness one can return home having been exposed while showing absolutely no symptoms - how does one control the spread of an outbreak of new infectious diseases?
'It will be very difficult.'
Australian medics have been told to watch out for symptoms which can be confused with less dangerous conditions like chickenpox, measles, syphilis or shingles
Four more people have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the UK, bringing the total number of cases in the latest outbreak to seven.
Two are known to each other but have no connection to any of the previous cases, in a sign the virus is
