A second monkeypox case has been detected in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday morning.
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The ministry says the case is not linked to the first case reported on Saturday.
“The person, who has a record of recent overseas travel, is currently isolating in the Northern region,” the ministry says.
“There is no evidence of community transmission from this case.”
According to the ministry, the risk of ongoing community transmission from this case is low.
“To protect the privacy of the case and contacts, we will be making no further comment on this case.”
On Saturday, the first monkeypox case in New Zealand was announced as a person in their 30s who lives in Auckland, and recently returned from a country with reported cases of the virus.
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles says monkeypox doesn’t spread as fast as Covid-19 because it’s passed from person to person through very close contact.
Wiles said there tended to be higher rates of transmission among gay and bisexual men.
She said New Zealand had expected to see cases because there had been outbreaks overseas. She said more cases could be on the way because the borders are open.
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“What we don’t want is for this to be established in New Zealand.”
She said monkeypox had about a three-week incubation period.
Wiles urged people who had a fever, muscle aches, or could see spots forming to head to a sexual health clinic or a doctor to get tested.
“It’s tricky because some of those early symptoms are very much like the other diseases we have at the moment – Covid, influenza. So, do a Covid test too.”
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