UK monkeypox alert as health chiefs detect another FOUR monkeypox cases
UK monkeypox alert as health chiefs detect another FOUR cases of killer virus – and NONE have travel links to Africa
MailOnline understands all four of the new patients are gay or bisexual menTwo of new patients are known to each other but not linked to earlier casesRare viral infection kills up to 1 in 10 people and is transmitted via bodily fluid
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Four more people have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the UK, bringing the total number of cases in the latest outbreak to seven.
All four of the new patients are gay or bisexual men from London with no apparent travel links to Africa, where the virus is endemic.
They are not connected to the previous cases but two of the new patients are known to each other, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
All seven of the UK cases have tested positive for the West African strain of the virus, which is believed to be milder than other versions.
Exactly how the new patients acquired the infection ‘remains under urgent investigation’, the UKHSA said.
Nurses and doctors are being advised to stay ‘alert’ to patients who present with a new rash.
MailOnline has learned that at least one sexual health clinic in West London had started implementing tougher infection control measures this morning, including a one-metre social distancing rule in waiting rooms.
Monkeypox is often mistaken for more common rash illnesses like chickenpox, measles, scabies and syphilis, which makes it difficult to diagnose early.
The rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people. It is transmitted via respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact or bodily fluids.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people (file photo)
Initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion (photo provided by the UKHSA)
The first patient, a person who had recently travelled to Nigeria, was diagnosed on May 7. They were treated at the expert infectious disease unit at the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London (pictured)
One of the cases announced on Saturday is being cared for at the infectious diseases unit at St Mary’s Hospital (file photo above), Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, in London
A source told MailOnline that some health teams were breaking ranks from national guidance and ‘perhaps putting in measures locally’.
But there is no indication that social distancing or other measures that people have become accustom to during the Covid pandemic will make a return, they said.
A full announcement is expected later today.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced on May 7 that a person who had recently travelled to Nigeria had contracted the infection.
It was believed they contracted the illness in Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic, before travelling to the UK.
Two more cases were announced on Saturday, in two individuals who lived in the same household but were not linked to the initial case.
Initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
A rash can develop, which changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.
The first case of monkeypox in a human was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has since been detected in a number of central and wester African countries.
Most cases are reported in the DRC and Nigeria.
In 2003, the disease was detected in the US when an outbreak occurred following the importation of rodents from Africa.
The first cases were detected in the UK in 2018, when three people contracted the virus after a man travelled back from Nigeria including an NHS nurse who had been caring for a patient and blamed her PPE.
The incident meant more than 50 people were warned they had been exposed to the potentially deadly virus however no other cases were recorded from that outbreak.
A further case was detected in London in December 2019 and another two cases were detected in North Wales in 2021. All cases were thought to have been caught by travellers who had been to Nigeria.
