Govt urged to prevent spread of monkeypox

Experts are calling for ‘‘urgent’’ Government action to prevent monkeypox cases from escalating in Aotearoa, saying the window of opportunity to act is now.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and health officials yesterday, the Burnett Foundation, the NZ Sexual Health Society and Associate Professor Peter Saxton called for authorities to act to prevent monkeypox becoming endemic, as failure to do so would ‘‘further overwhelm our already strained health system’’.

Cases of monkeypox are rapidly increasing overseas and the World Health Organisation has declared the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The first case outside of Africa was detected in early May. By July 27, there were more than 18,000 confirmed cases in 75 countries – including three in New Zealand to date.

Outbreaks overseas have been affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men at ‘‘an extremely disproportionate rate’’, creating ‘‘yet another’’ inequality for these communities, the experts said.

While most cases did not require hospital treatment, about 10% of cases were being admitted to hospital for management of pain or complications, WHO said.

Sexual health services in Aotearoa were already ‘‘severely under-resourced’’ and facing high demand, the letter said. It came at a time when primary services were also in a ‘‘precarious and exhausted state’’ from Covid-19 and winter illnesses.

With cases rapidly increasing and overwhelming health systems in Europe, ‘‘we cannot afford to wait for a widespread outbreak to justify a plan to address monkeypox’’, the experts said.

‘‘We still have a unique window of opportunity for sustained elimination of monkeypox in Aotearoa, but that window is closing and requires urgent action.’’

Joe Rich, the chief executive of the Burnett Foundation, said actions taken in the Northern Hemisphere were proving insufficient to contain the virus. Aotearoa needed to ‘‘step it up and get in front of it’’, he said.

‘‘Urgent’’ procurement of vaccines was a top concern, alongside developing a vaccine delivery plan that prioritised men who have sex with men.

New Zealand currently has no supply of smallpox vaccine, but Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) said discussions with manufacturers were under way to ensure New Zealand ‘‘is ready for any potential monkeypox outbreak’’.

This included exploring options and timelines to secure access to a smallpox vaccine and antiviral treatments.

There were 6440 new community Covid-19 cases, reported yesterday, as the seven-day rolling average of cases continues to tick down.

There were 704 people in hospital with the virus, with 11 in an intensive care or highdependency care unit, the Ministry of Health said.

The seven-day rolling average of daily community case numbers was 6355 – last Wednesday it was 8111.

There was a total of 1589 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. The seven-day rolling average daily increase in deaths attributable to Covid19 was 22.