Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles says monkeypox doesn't spread as fast as Covid-19 because it's passed from person to person through very close contact.
New Zealand recorded its first monkeypox case over the weekend. The person is in their 30s, lives in Auckland, and had recently returned from overseas travel.
While no community transmission in New Zealand has been detected as of Monday morning, across the globe, cases are on the rise.
Wiles said there tended to be higher rates of transmission among gay and bisexual men.
She said New Zealand had expected to see cases because there had been outbreaks overseas. She said more cases could be on the way because the borders are open.
"What we don't want is for this to be established in New Zealand."
She said monkeypox had about a three-week incubation period.
Wiles urged people who had a fever, muscle aches, or could see spots forming to head to a sexual health clinic or a doctor to get tested.
"It's tricky because some of those early symptoms are very much like the other diseases we have at the moment - Covid, influenza. So, do a Covid test too."
Matt Ford says he had "really intense" flu-like symptoms. (Source: 1News)
Covid-19's resurgence
While monkeypox has made an appearance in Aotearoa, Covid-19 hasn't gone away.
Daily cases surged above 10,000 on some days last week, the number of people in hospital with the virus jumped over the weekend, and the immunity-evading Omicron subvariant BA.5 fuelled some reinfections.
Wiles said the subvariants meant people were "fair game for this virus" after just three weeks since their last Omicron infection.
"It's not a once and done."
She urged people to keep up mask-wearing indoors, preferably with well-fitted N95 masks, and to get their flu and Covid-19 booster jabs if they hadn't already.
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She also encouraged people to keep windows and doors open to allow for better ventilation indoors.
A person who was symptomatic should swab their throat first then nose when taking a rapid antigen test, as some variants like Omicron were more likely to show up in the former, she said.
Measles was also a concern as borders opened up, so it was important to check people were up to date with their immunisations, Wiles added.
"What we need to do is rekindle the collective spirit that we had in the first couple of years of this pandemic.
"We have moved to a much more individual attitude, but things like mask-wearing - they work much better when we all wear them."
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