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Monkeypox in Australia - Should we be worried?
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By Steven Mew, the Australian Science Media Centre
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Victorian health authorities have confirmed a case of monkeypox in Melbourne, while NSW authorities are investigating another suspected case in Sydney.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the disease, which comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox, has been popping up in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK in the past few weeks. So what is monkeypox and should Aussies be worried about its arrival on our shores?
According to Professor Raina MacIntyre from the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, monkeypox is an animal virus that occasionally infects humans. It was first identified in humans in 1970, in Africa and is a re-emerging disease that's been causing very large outbreaks in Nigeria and DRC since 2017.
"It is a respiratory virus but does not usually spread easily between humans, and usually only in close contacts," Prof MacIntyre told an AusSMC expert reaction.
The current epidemic in 2022, which seems to have started from cases in the UK, is the largest outside of Africa and has spread to many countries around the world including the United States, Canada, and Europe.
"Given it is a frequent travel destination/source for Australia, it is not surprising we have now got a case here," Prof MacIntyre said.
Assoc. Professor Paul Griffin from Mater Health Services and the University of Queensland told the AusSMC that monkeypox has an incubation period of six to thirteen days and tends to clear up on its own within 2 to 4 weeks, although can rarely be fatal. The virus is typically spread via contact with blood or bodily fluids, including respiratory secretions or fluid from skin lesions.
"Systemic symptoms similar to many other viral infections are usually seen first including fever, headaches, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes. Skin eruption often follows with a rash that can include flat lesions to larger fluid-filled blisters. These lesions tend to be concentrated on the face and extremities rather than on the trunk," he said.
If the virus is not easily spread then, should Aussies be worried?
According to A/Prof Griffin, while it is important to raise awareness, there are several considerations with this virus that mean we do not need to overreact. The vaccine which was widely developed and used to eradicate smallpox in the 1970's is also effective against monkeypox.
Prof MacIntyre said the third-generation smallpox vaccine is safe to use, even in immunocompromised people, and some antivirals are also effective against smallpox so it's likely they would also work for monkeypox.
Matt Mason from the University of the Sunshine Coast told the AusSMC that monkeypox is not a new disease and health professionals and scientists from Nigeria and Cameroon have a lot of experience and expertise in managing cases, which we could draw on if case numbers rise.
"Transmission between people is often poor, with the disease being mostly self-limiting. This means that with careful public health education and early reporting it is unlikely large outbreaks would occur in Australia," he said.
You can read the full AusSMC expert reaction here.
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This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.
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"Sadly, it’s really not that hard to kill a rainforest tree—just warm things up a bit and quite a few species will just drop their leaves and die standing. "
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Distinguished Professor Bill Laurance, Director of the Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science at James Cook University speaking about rainforest tree death rates in an AusSMC expert reaction.
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Tooth unlocks mystery of Denisovans in Asia (Nature Communications)
What links a finger bone and some fossil teeth found in a cave in the remote Altai Mountains of Siberia to a single tooth found in a cave in the limestone landscapes of tropical Laos? The answer to this question has been established by an international team of researchers from Laos, Europe, the US and Australia. The human tooth was chanced upon during an archaeological survey in a remote area of Laos. The scientists have shown it originated from the same ancient human population first recognised in Denisova Cave (dubbed the Denisovans), in the Altai Mountains of Siberia (Russia). The research team made the significant discovery during their 2018 excavation campaign in northern Laos. The new cave Tam Ngu Hao 2, also known as Cobra Cave, is located near the famous Tam Pà Ling Cave where another important 70,000-year-old human (Homo sapiens) fossils had been previously found. News for: Australia; NSW; SA.
Example coverage: ABC News | Ancient human tooth discovered in Laos cave may be first Denisovan fossil from South-East Asia
EXPERT REACTION: First images of a black hole in our galaxy
The first-ever image of a black hole in our own Milky Way galaxy has been captured by scientists. The images are of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole in the middle of the Milky Way around 26,700 light-years away. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration captured the image using a network of radio telescopes linked across the globe. Here's what Aussie experts had to say. News for: Australia; International; VIC; QLD; WA.
Example Coverage: Brisbane Times | You think the black hole photo is impressive? Just wait for the video
Forecasting the next five years of the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be a society-wide crisis of growing inequalities that span far beyond the health sector, says a major report from the International Science Council. The report says governments prolonged the pandemic by focusing on their own patch rather than working globally. Weighing up future scenarios through to the year 2027, they find the most likely picture is a worsening of global inequalities, including possible collapse of some health systems and setting back the UN’s sustainable development goals by a decade. The authors want to see a new UN Science Advisory Board to better blend scientific expertise across different sectors. News for: New Zealand; International.
Example Coverage: Science Alert | Here's How The Next 5 Years Might Look: Scientists Outline 3 Likely Pandemic Outcomes
Game-changing spray to revolutionise world-wide pest control (Nature Plants)
An environmentally friendly spray that targets and kills one of the world’s most damaging agricultural pests has been created by scientists at The University of Queensland. The spray is part of UQ’s BioClay™ technology, a safe and sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides, which has been developed over the past decade by Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). Research team leader Professor Neena Mitter said it was a game-changer for crop protection because it was effective against whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), a small insect responsible for the loss of billions of dollars in agricultural crops around the world. News for: Australia; QLD
Example Coverage: ABC News | Whitefly farming pest in the crosshairs of the same RNA solution behind advanced COVID-19 vaccines
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This week, Olivia joined Jordan Curtis on 5AU & 5CS Classic Hits Breakfast to chat about coffee and cholesterol. Tune in tonight on ABC RN Drive to hear Susannah talking bottlenose dolphin skincare, cuddles for stress relief and the global arachnid trade, and on Sunday night Lyndal will talk to ABC Nightlife about all things RNA.
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