Victorians are being asked to keep contact details for their sexual partners to assist authorities with contact tracing as Mpox numbers continue to rise.
The state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker has advised people should keep a record of their sexual partners and limit their number of sexual partners to assist with curbing the spread of the infection.
In 2024 there have been 152 cases of Mpox, with the large majority of them occurring in Victoria. There have been 83 cases to date.
The numbers are now higher than the initial outbreak in 2022 which saw 144 cases across the country, while the following year there was only 26 cases nationally.
While the 2022 outbreak was largely traced to people who had travelled overseas returning to Australia with the infection, the current outbreak is largely made up with 90% of transmissions occurring locally.
Mpox, which was previously known as Monkeypox, was a rare viral infection that was endemic in Central or West Africa, but since May 2022 there has been an outbreak of cases reported from non-endemic countries.
While the virus is not a sexually transmitted infection, it has been found predominately in male same-sex communities. People who are at high risk of being infected by the virus are encouraged to get a vaccination.
The virus is usually spread from person-to-person by prolonged physical or intimate contact with someone who has mpox, especially with skin rashes, lesions, sores or scabs.
Mpox can start with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headaches and muscle aches and pains. It causes a rash or skin lesions and swollen lymph nodes.
Symptoms can occur up to 21 days after being exposed to mpox.
