This week, monkeypox was declared a public health emergency of international concern after more than 16,000 cases were recorded this year across 75 countries.

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak, which had spread rapidly “through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little”, required a co-ordinated international response to prevent its further spread.

As of 26 July, there had been 44 cases reported in Australia, primarily among men who have sex with men and had been acquired overseas.

New clinical guidance from ATAGI states that doctors who are likely to encounter patients with monkeypox — including those working in sexual health clinics, hospital staff and laboratory workers — are able to receive the live-attenuated smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000, for pre-exposure prophylaxis.