logo
Urgent alert after rare virus case detected

Urgent alert after rare virus case detected

Perth Nowa day ago
An urgent health alert has been issued after a strain of monkeypox - confirmed to be a strain known to cause a widespread 'pox-like' rash - was detected in a returned Australian travelled.
Queensland Health confirmed the case of monkeypox (Mpox) was detected in the state's Metro South region.
Testing revealed it to be the Clade 1 strain of the virus - marking the second time in history the more serious strain has ever been detected in Australia.
The case was acquired overseas but authorities say the risk to the wider community is very low.
Queensland Health confirmed exposure to the public had been limited and contact tracing was underway after the detection.
According to the Australian Immunisation Handbook, the symptoms of Mpox can include fever, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, headache
and muscle aches, followed by a rash within 2-4 days of infection.
It spreads primarily through close or intimate contact.
Complications of the virus can range from bacterial infections to enciphalitus and pneumonia.
The Clade 1 strain of the virus is known cause higher numbers of severe illnesses. Queensland Health said public exposure has been limited. NewsWire/Glenn Campbell Credit: News Corp Australia
Free Mpox vaccines are available to high-risk groups through sexual health clinics and GPs.
'Vaccination is available for post-exposure prophylaxis as well as primary preventive vaccination. High risk groups, including all sexually active gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men and their partners, are eligible for free vaccines through sexual health clinics and general practitioners,' Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said. Minister for Health Tim Nicholls said Queensland health was monitoring the situation. NewsWire/Tertius Pickard Credit: News Corp Australia
Two doses are recommended for optimal protection.
Those travelling to areas with Clade 1 transmission are encouraged to get vaccinated before departure.
Queensland Health is monitoring the situation.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path
As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path

Sydney Morning Herald

time4 hours ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path

The sales process for Healthscope's failed private hospital business kicks off in earnest this Monday with up to 30 potential suitors due to file their tentative offers for its 37 Australian hospitals, employing 19,000 staff nationally. But the non-binding offers won't include a bid from Healthscope's current management, who are contemplating a scheme to convert the company into a not-for-profit entity. It would mirror the resurrection of Australia's largest child care provider Goodstart Early learning, from the ashes of the collapsed ABC Learning empire, as a not-for-profit provider. Healthscope insiders have confirmed reports in the Australian Financial Review last week that its chief executive, Tino La Spina, is working on the plan as an alternative to a sale of the business to either commercial interests or other Australian not-for-profit operators like St Vincent's Health Australia. Healthscope declined to comment. People with knowledge of the proposal, who are not authorised to discuss the matter, confirmed that the plans are not advanced enough to put in a non-binding indicative offer by the Monday, July 21 deadline. But La Spina's team have been consulting with the receivers from McGrathNicol who are managing the sale, with a view to putting in a proposal during the second stage of the sales process where interested parties are expected to lodge binding offers for the business. This includes local not-for-profit operators, ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care, privately owned Healthe Care and a potential debt-for-equity swap that could see lenders like UK-based Polus Capital take control. The receivers are acting for lenders which are owed $1.7 billion, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Australia's Big Four banks are among the lenders which will be hit with significant losses as the sales price is not expected to get anywhere near what is owed to them. The debt includes $52 million owed to the former owner, Canadian financial giant, Brookfield, which had $2 billion in equity wiped out when the group collapsed into administration earlier this year.

As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path
As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path

The Age

time4 hours ago

  • The Age

As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path

The sales process for Healthscope's failed private hospital business kicks off in earnest this Monday with up to 30 potential suitors due to file their tentative offers for its 37 Australian hospitals, employing 19,000 staff nationally. But the non-binding offers won't include a bid from Healthscope's current management, who are contemplating a scheme to convert the company into a not-for-profit entity. It would mirror the resurrection of Australia's largest child care provider Goodstart Early learning, from the ashes of the collapsed ABC Learning empire, as a not-for-profit provider. Healthscope insiders have confirmed reports in the Australian Financial Review last week that its chief executive, Tino La Spina, is working on the plan as an alternative to a sale of the business to either commercial interests or other Australian not-for-profit operators like St Vincent's Health Australia. Healthscope declined to comment. People with knowledge of the proposal, who are not authorised to discuss the matter, confirmed that the plans are not advanced enough to put in a non-binding indicative offer by the Monday, July 21 deadline. But La Spina's team have been consulting with the receivers from McGrathNicol who are managing the sale, with a view to putting in a proposal during the second stage of the sales process where interested parties are expected to lodge binding offers for the business. This includes local not-for-profit operators, ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care, privately owned Healthe Care and a potential debt-for-equity swap that could see lenders like UK-based Polus Capital take control. The receivers are acting for lenders which are owed $1.7 billion, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Australia's Big Four banks are among the lenders which will be hit with significant losses as the sales price is not expected to get anywhere near what is owed to them. The debt includes $52 million owed to the former owner, Canadian financial giant, Brookfield, which had $2 billion in equity wiped out when the group collapsed into administration earlier this year.

Second case of rare mpox strain discovered in traveller
Second case of rare mpox strain discovered in traveller

SBS Australia

time14 hours ago

  • SBS Australia

Second case of rare mpox strain discovered in traveller

Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . "The patient has a close family, and that family are isolating at home. He was not contagious on the return journey to Australia from Africa, and those close contacts that he has been in contact including at the emergency ward and other locations are being contact traced right now and identified." That's Queensland's Health Minister Tim Nicholls, confirming a new strain of mpox virus has been detected in a man who's just returned to the south-east of the state from a trip to Africa. He says Mpox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus. "Mpox is not easily spread. It is only spread or it can only spread through close or intimate contact. It is particularly spread by close sexual contact and particularly for gay men and people engaging with sex is the primary cause of the contagious spread." Dr Geoffrey Playford is the head of infectious diseases at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Queensland. He says the rare Clade 1 strain of mpox has only been seen once before in Australia, also in a returned traveller. "Over the last year and a half in Queensland, we've had 135 cases in mpox clade 2 - this is the first case of clade 1 and the second time in Australia we've had clade 1. The other case was in New South Wales in May." Mr Nicholls says the public should NOT be concerned. "We think that there are 19 community contacts and 40 staff contacts that have been in contact with the patient. At the moment his symptoms are asymptomatic. They are not showing any signs of the clade 1 mpox, but they are isolating. The family involves children in high school, primary school and childcare centres and the high school, primary school and childcare centres either have been or are in the process of being identified." Dr Playford says authorities are not worried either. He says fortunately in this case the clinical presentation is relatively mild and there are no particular concerns for the patient's health. "And all of our efforts at the moment is to identify contacts using national guidelines to undertake quarantine where the very close contacts have been identified, again in line with the national guidelines." The close contacts will be offered a vaccine that is highly effective against mpox -either preventing or making the disease significantly milder and shorter. Mr Nicholls says over a year ago there were some restrictions on the availability of the vaccine. But now, Queensland has ample supplies - and the vaccine is provided free of charge through sexual health clinics and some GPs [[general practitioners]]. The Queensland government is advising anyone who suspects they may have the virus to seek medical advice from their local doctor, sexual health clinic or public health unit.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store