NSW chief health officer ‘cautiously optimistic’ about containment of monkeypox outbreak

Authorities attribute Australia’s success in containing monkeypox to the response by gay and bisexual men and the organisations that support them. Photograph: Isabella Moore/The Guardian

The outbreak of the monkeypox virus in Australia, occurring alongside the global Covid-19 pandemic, has alarmed many health authorities, but the New South Wales chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said she felt “confident” the rare disease was being managed.

Four months after the first case was detected in NSW in May, just four cases of monkeypox were identified in Australia in the fortnight to 28 September. There had been a total of 136 monkeypox cases in Australia, despite countries such as the UK, US and Spain reporting thousands each.