Why Monkeypox is not like Covid-19

It is much harder to catch Monkeypox than it is Covid

It is much harder to catch Monkeypox than it is Covid

More than 100 cases of Monkeypox have now been detected in countries where the disease does not usually appear, including two cases in Australia. 

Infections in France, Belgium, Canada, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK and the US have occurred, with little understanding of where the infection came from. 

It’s easy, in a post-pandemic world, to get down when you hear news like this. 

Your mind might wander back to a place of stockpiled toilet paper and social Zoom calls. 

But, while Monkeypox popping up in unusual places is cause for some concern, it’s not going to be Covid 2.0. At least, not according to our infectious disease experts. 

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We’ve known about it since 1970

Unlike Covid, which launched the world into a period of unknown, we’ve understood how Monkeypox works for a long time. 

“It’s typically been confined to Central and West Africa, but with two different strains between the two regions,” Epidemiologist Mike Toole told The Oz. 

“The Central African strain has a 10% mortality rate, and the West African strain has a 1% mortality rate. The West African one is what we’re seeing in these countries.” 

Funnily enough, Monkeypox doesn’t typically spread through monkeys, Toole said. It’s probably spread by rodents, with a few of the US cases proven to have come from imported rodents which then spread to squirrels. 

“The reason there’s concern about this outbreak is that it’s the first outbreak among people, most of whom have had no travel history to places where Monkeypox exists,” Toole said. 

“That has raised a few questions.” 

It’s much harder to transmit

It’s incredibly unlikely that you would catch Monkeypox by going to the supermarket/church/cinema, because it isn’t transmitted through breathing. 

“Monkeypox is transmitted from person to person, but transmission happens with very close contact with, say, the rash that emerges or by rubbing against an infected person’s bedding or clothing,” ANU infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake said. 

“It’s much, much harder to transmit Monkeypox compared to Covid.” 

We have a working vaccine

In fact, we’ve got two. 

There’s a vaccine that specifically works against Monkeypox, and one that works against Monkeypox and smallpox.

“If people do get it, the chance of dying is quite low, because we’ve got a vaccine and antiviral meds,” Senanayake said.

“And, what we learnt from Ebola when we had that big outbreak 6 or 7 years ago, when a western country gets involved with these diseases and you have more resources, the mortality rate actually drops.” 

So where are we up to globally?

In the UK, where 20 cases of Monkeypox have been detected, close contacts have been told to self-isolate for 21 days and work from home.  Close contacts are also being offered the small pox vaccine. Toole said the same practice would occur in Australia if more cases pop up.

Belgium has introduced a 21-day quarantine for anyone with the viral disease. In the US, President Joe Biden deemed the virus a "concern" because "if it were to spread it would be consequential." 

Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on Covid-19, told a live Q&A on Monday: “As surveillance expands, we do expect that more cases will be seen. But we need to put this into context because it’s not Covid.”