A clinical review of mpox for the Aotearoa New Zealand clinician

Abstract

The World Health Organization declared mpox (formerly monkeypox) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in July 2022. Aotearoa New Zealand has reported cases of mpox since July, with reports of locally acquired cases since October 2022. The 2022 global mpox outbreak highlights many features of the illness not previously described, including at-risk populations, mode of transmission, atypical clinical features, and complications. It is important that all clinicians are familiar with the variety of clinical manifestations, as patients may present to different healthcare providers, and taking lessons from the HIV pandemic, that all patients are managed without stigma or discrimination. There have been numerous publications since the outbreak began. Our narrative clinical review attempts to bring together the current clinical evidence for the New Zealand clinician.