New Zealand Records First Monkeypox Case, Reveals Increasing Threat as Virus Enters New Continent

Monkeypox has been an emerging as a global health problem since new cases of the decades-long disease were reported in May this year. Caused by the poxvirus, the pathogenic infection had its origin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa in the 1970s.

As part of the latest multi-country monkeypox outbreak, New Zealand just recorded the first monkeypox case in the country, as confirmed by its government's Ministry of Health (MoH).

New Zealand Monkeypox Case

(Photo : Photo by Pixabay via Pexels)

The new case in the Oceania country highlights the increasing threat that the monkeypox virus entry into a new continent, with growing cases already transpiring mostly in Europe and North America.

An MoH statement reveals New Zealand's first monkeypox case involve a person in his or her 30s who live in Auckland and just recently returned from a country with existing cases of the disease, as cited by 1 News.

Also Read: Monkeypox Outbreak Reaches Canada, U.S. with Confirmed Cases

Monkeypox Symptoms and Transmission

The World Health Organization (WHO) as of Monday, July 11, still considers the global monkeypox outbreak as a moderate risk to the overall public health, wherein transmission is still ongoing and has been confirmed, in some cases, to be a result of sex between men.

In most cases, monkeypox transmission occurs from person-to-person in through direct physical contact involving the body fluids, infectious rash, and scabs from the infected person's skin.

Monkeypox can be lethal if left untreated, having initial symptoms of chills, headache, fever, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, backache, and tiredness.

Global Monkeypox Cases

The list below includes some of the countries, particularly in Europe, with the greatest number of related cases:

•  Germany (1,490)
•  United Kingdom (1,552)
•  Spain (1,256)
•  United States (790)
•  France (721)
•  Portugal (415)
•  Netherlands (402)
•  Canada (375)

The said number of cases are based from the CDC's 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak Global Map, with the latest recordings as of a total of 8,238 confirmed cases in 57 locations as of 05:00 p.m. EDT (local time) on Saturday, July 8.

Based on previous data from the WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the global monkeypox cases has reached over 7,600 in more than 50 countries recently.

US Monkeypox Outbreak

In the US, the CDC has its separate tally of the North American country under its 2022 US Map & Case Count webpage, wherein New York is the state with the greatest number of cases of 153. This is followed by California with 136 cases, Florida with 72, Illinois with 91, and District of Columbia with 64.

Some of the following American states have also recorded relatively fewer monkeypox cases:

•  Arizona
•  Arkansas
•  Colorado
•  Connecticut
•  Georgia
•  Indiana
•  Maryland
•  Massachusetts
•  Michigan
•  Minnesota
•  Missouri
•  Nebraska
•  Nevada
•  New Hampshire
•  New Jersey
•  North Carolina
•  Ohio
•  Oklahoma
•  Oregon
•  Pennsylvania
•  Texas
•  Utah

In June, US health officials stated they were planning to provide more monkeypox vaccines, expand testing, and implement further health measures against the monkeypox outbreak. The European Union (EU) started investigating on whether the said vaccine could address the outbreak in Europe, as cited by 1 News.

Related Article: Monkeypox Warning: CDC Raises Alert Level as Cases Spike to Over 1,000 Affecting 29 Countries Worldwide