Monkeypox can kill up to one in 10 people it infects, but all seven UK cases have the West African form of it, which is less deadly, killing about one in 100 people. 'However, it would be very unusual to see anything more than a handful of cases in any outbreak, and we won't be seeing Covid-style levels of transmission.'Īt least three patients are receiving care at specialist NHS units in London and Newcastle. The first patient, who was diagnosed nearly two weeks ago, had brought the virus back from Nigeria, where the disease is endemic.Įxperts have admitted the cases are 'unusual' but insisted any outbreak is likely to be small.ĭr Head added: 'There's currently gaps in our knowledge, and the contact tracing and public health investigation being carried out by UKHSA will no doubt reveal more in due course, for example about how pattern of transmission. Of the UK's seven cases, five are in London, one in the South East, and one in the North East. The UKHSA bosses have now written to regional NHS teams telling them to stock up on PPE and be on alert for patients with a new rash. However, a jab used to vaccinate against smallpox has been shown to protect against monkeypox - but it's not approved in the UK. There are no specific treatments or widely-available vaccines for monkeypox infection, according to the World Health Organization. Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment.
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This then forms skin lesions that scab and fall off. The most obvious symptom is a rash, which usually appears on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. These include a fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. Symptoms usually appear within five and 21 days of infection. The virus is transmitted via respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact or bodily fluids. The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or the eyes, nose or mouth. It resides in wild animals but humans can catch it through direct contact with animals, such as handling monkeys, or eating inadequately cooked meat. Human cases were recorded for the first time in the US in 2003 and the UK in September 2018. Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958, with the first reported human case in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970. The virus responsible for the disease is found mainly in the tropical areas of west and central Africa. Monkeypox - often caught through handling monkeys - is a rare viral disease that kills around 10 per cent of people it strikes, according to figures.
'This may indeed be the first time transmission of monkeypox via sexual contact has been documented, although it has not been confirmed to be the case,' said Dr Michael Head, a public health expert from the University of Southampton. Independent scientists are split on the theory, with some saying it was still too early to say either way. Other infections that are not technically STIs but can spread during sex include shigella or giardia. Just because it can spread during sex does not mean it is the virus' primary route of transmission, nor does it make it an STI. 'This is further suggested by the fact that common contacts have been identified for only two of the four latest cases.' 'However, the high proportion of cases in the current outbreak in England that are gay or bisexual (4/7, 57 per cent) is highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks. 'Close contact between two people (such as during sex) could facilitate transmission – but this has never been described before. 'This is a novel route of transmission that will have implications for outbreak response and control,' he added. He said it was 'bizarre' that cases 'appear to have acquired the infection via sexual contact'.
Mateo Prochazka, an STI expert and head of UKHSA team probing the outbreak, detailed the UK's seven new cases in a Twitter thread earlier today.