Indonesia on alert as monkeypox emerges in Australia

This undated electron microscopic handout image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a monkeypox virion, obtained from a clinical sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. It was a thin section image from a human skin sample. On the left were mature, oval-shaped virus particles, and on the right were the crescents, and spherical particles of immature virions. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The Health Ministry is stepping up surveillance for monkeypox as more cases of the viral disease are being reported in non-endemic countries across the globe, including neighbouring Australia.

Even though Indonesia had not detected a single case to date, ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril urged the public and all health workers to be alert and aware of the symptoms of the disease.