Alert as 4 new cases of monkeypox found
Rare deadly virus is being transmitted in Britain
A HEALTH alert has been put out after four new cases of monkeypox were discovered in the UK.
Seven people now have the virus and six of these appear to have contracted it in the UK. The seventh had travelled to Nigeria, where the disease is widespread.
Transmission between multiple people is ‘unusual’ and ‘surprising’, according to experts, but any outbreak is likely to be small.
The four latest cases are in gay and bisexual men, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which is investigating. Officials stress that the virus is only spread through very close contact. It is not known to be a sexually transmitted disease.
The UKHSA is working to find links between the latest four cases, who all appear to have been infected in London.
Three of the four men live in the capital and one is in the North East.
These cases are not thought to be connected to the previous three, which has led to concerns that there has been transmission of the virus in the community. A rare tropical disease, monkeypox can kill up to 10 per cent of people who get it, but all seven UK cases have the West African form of it, which is less deadly, killing about one in 100 people.
The virus can be mistaken for more common illnesses such as chickenpox, measles, syphilis and scabies, so is not always identified early.
Nurses and doctors are being advised to be ‘alert’ to patients who have rashes without a clear diagnosis. Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UKHSA, said: ‘UKHSA is rapidly investigating the source of these infections because the evidence suggests that there may be transmission of the monkeypox virus in the community, spread by close contact.
‘We are particularly urging men who are gay and bisexual to be aware of any unusual rashes or lesions and to contact a sexual health service without delay.’
Monkeypox is spread through respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact or through bodily fluids. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion.
A rash can develop, often first on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. The rash turns into pustules, which become scabs.
The UKHSA announced on May 7 that a person in England had monkeypox, having recently travelled from Nigeria. On Saturday, two more cases were confirmed in England from the same household. Some cases are being treated in specialist infectious disease units.
Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health
‘Be aware of unusual lesions’
at the University of Southampton, said: Monkeypox does not spread as a sexually transmitted infection, but it could spread through the close physical contact which accompanies sex.
‘But this is not going to become a problem like HIV, or cause an epidemic like Covid.’
Older people may have some protection from monkeypox due to vaccination against smallpox, which is caused by a related virus.