SYDNEY, May 20. /TASS/. A case of a human contracting monkeypox was detected in Australia’s New South Wales, the regional Ministry of Health reported on Friday.

According to medics, the first carrier of monkeypox in the country was a 40-year-old male who recently returned from Europe. The agency specified that he turned to a general practitioner with symptoms resembling monkeypox. After expedited tests, the diagnosis was confirmed and the patient and his family members were isolated.

According to the state’s top health officer Kerry Chant, the disease is not endemic to Australia yet it is sometimes registered in those arriving from some African countries or the owners of imported pets. She stressed that Australia’s Department of Health is closely monitoring new cases while the course of the disease is generally light.

This spring, Europe recorded an unusually high number of monkeypox infections with over 40 of them in Spain and Portugal. Recently, more cases were registered in the UK and the US. The infection is not considered to be highly contagious since it needs close interaction to be transmitted.

Its symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and back pains, enlarged lymphatic nodes and fatigue. It may also involve skin rash.