Fresh alert as two more cases of monkeypox discovered

TWO more people have been diagnosed with potentially deadly monkeypox – a week after a first case emerged.

The new cases – both in London – aren’t linked to the first, but officials have provided only the scantest of details.

Eight days ago, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed that someone with ‘a recent travel history from Nigeria’ was being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster.

Yesterday, it said the new cases were two people in the same household. ‘How they acquired the infection remains under investigation,’ said a spokesman, who wouldn’t divulge whether either had recently been in Africa. If they hadn’t, this would strongly suggest a wider ‘homegrown’ outbreak.

The virus, which typically causes painful sores all over the body and can also result in fever, aches, chills and exhaustion, is endemic in parts of West Africa. Like Covid, it is spread mainly by exhaled droplets. Incubation is typically one to two weeks.

For most, monkeypox is a relatively mild infection that clears up in around a fortnight. But complications can include sepsis, brain-swelling and vision loss. According to the World Health Organisation, the fatality rate can be up to ten per cent.

One of the new cases is being treated at St Mary’s Hospital in West London, while the other is ‘isolating and does not require hospital treatment’.

Dr Colin Brown, UKHSA’s director of clinical and emerging infections, said: ‘It is important to emphasise that the risk to the public remains very low.’