Monkeypox: Health worker first to pick up virus in the UK
A HEALTH worker who cared for a patient with monkeypox has caught the disease – becoming the first to contract it in the UK.
It is the third confirmed case in Britain. The first two sufferers are thought to have caught the potentially deadly virus in Nigeria.
The unidentified medic had treated a patient – later confirmed to have monkeypox – at Blackpool Victoria Hospital earlier this month.
The worker is now being treated by doctors in a specialist unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle.
Dr Nick Phin, of Public Health England, said: ‘This healthcare worker cared for the patient before a diagnosis of monkeypox was made. We have been actively monitoring contacts for 21 days after exposure to detect anyone presenting with an illness so that they can be assessed quickly.
‘It is therefore not wholly unexpected that a case has been identified. This person has been isolated and we are taking a highly precautionary approach to ensure that all contacts are traced.’
Dr Jeremy Farrar, of medical research charity the Wellcome Trust, said: ‘The fact that this third case of monkeypox has been diagnosed now in a healthcare worker in the UK is worrying and an important reminder of the threat posed by infectious diseases in our connected world.’
The first UK case of the viral disease was recorded on September 7 and involved a Nigerian national staying at a naval base in Cornwall.
The patient was transferred to the infectious disease unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London the following day.
A second person was diagnosed on September 11, although officials said there was ‘no UK link’ between the two. The patient went to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with symptoms before they tested positive for monkeypox.
They were then sent for treatment at a specialist centre in Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Officials believe both the first two patients caught the virus in Nigeria before flying to England. Further information on their condition has not yet been released.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. While similar to smallpox, it is not as deadly, though it can be fatal in around one in ten cases.
Humans can catch it through direct contact with animals, such as handling monkeys, or eating inadequately cooked meat. It can pass between humans via droplets in the air, and by touching the skin of an infected individual or objects contaminated by them.
The illness is usually mild and most of those infected will recover within a few weeks.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache and chills. Later, large welts can appear over the face and body.