Monkeypox virus spreads to Northern Territory

A potentially deadly virus has been detected in another Australian jurisdiction amid unprecedented global spread.

The Northern Territory has recorded its first case of monkeypox. Picture: AFP / UK HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY

The Northern Territory has recorded its first positive case of the rare viral disease monkeypox.

Health officials said the case is a returned traveller who is isolating in the Top End.

A statement from the health department said the person presents no health or transmission risk to the public.

It takes the total number of cases in Australia to 42, after the ACT also recorded its first and only case last week.

There have also been 22 cases recorded in NSW, 15 in Victoria, one in Queensland and one in South Australia.

Most of Australia’s recent cases of monkeypox were contracted overseas.

Health experts say spread of the disease – which is less transmissible than Covid – can be effectively controlled through isolation measures.

Most people who contract monkeypox make a full recovery within weeks without the need for treatment. Picture: AFP / Brian W.J. Mahy / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Transmission of the disease usually requires direct skin-to-skin or prolonged face-to-face contact with an infected person.

Symptoms may initially include fever, chills, muscle aches, backache and swollen lymph nodes.

Following this, sufferers develop a rash which can appear all over the body as small sores.

Most people with Monkeypox do not require treatment and fully recover from the disease within a couple of weeks.

The disease is endemic in 11 African nations, where the death rate is between three and six per cent.

An ongoing global outbreak of the virus has now spread to the UK, Europe, North America, the Middle East and other areas, many of which are recording their first ever instances of the disease.