Victorian authorities have issued an updated health warning, with communities vulnerable to monkeypox advised to take preventative measures.
It comes as the number of people diagnosed with the virus is increasing due to local transmission, amidst an outbreak which has “disproportionately impacted men who have sex with men”.
Limiting sexual partners is among preventative measures advised for populations at risk, if they are not vaccinated.
Vaccines have arrived in the state with the roll-out largely taking place through sexual health clinics.
But supply is limited and those eligible are reportedly being offered one vaccine dose, instead of two, as authorities await another 20,000 doses to be available by September.
“Transmission is skin-to-skin but we owe it to gay and bisexual men to inform them where the risk is now and to support reducing risk,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said in a tweet on Saturday.
Victoria is leading the nation with a total of 44 cases reported as of Saturday (15 to 18 of those still active), up from 22 that had been recorded until 4 August. And Melbourne is the epicentre of the current outbreak.
Deputy Chief Health Officer for Communicable Disease Deborah Friedman spoke of a “significant increase” in locally acquired infections over the past 14 days.
“Just about half of our 40 cases have been acquired within Victoria rather than overseas.
“We are really the only state in Australia that’s seeing such an increase of local transmission,” she said.
Monkeypox symptoms can include fever, sore throat, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and rashes, of varying appearance and potentially limited in the area around the genitals.
The virus was declared a public health emergency of international concern last month by the World Health Organization.
Severe illness is unusual but may develop, with the monkeypox strain present in Australian thought to have a mortality rate of around 3 per cent.
