UK reports 71 new cases of monkeypox

Monkeypox-outbreak

Monkeypox

The United Kingdom has reported additional 71 cases of monkeypox, with health chiefs urging anyone who develops a new rash to abstain from sex.

The Mail Online quoted the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as saying that the new patients are all based in England.

It brings the UK total to 179 since the first was detected on May 6, with the figure soaring 69 per cent since Friday — the biggest jump yet.

Almost all of the infections have been logged in England, apart from four logged in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.

UK health chiefs insist the risk to the public remains low. But they have urged everyone to be on the lookout for new rashes or lesions on any part of their body — which appear like spots, ulcers or blisters.

The UKHSA has not shared the age, region or gender of those infected with monkeypox.

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But the majority are men who have sex with men, so it has told these groups to be particularly aware of the virus’s tell-tale signs.

UK health chiefs has published guidelines on how to limit the spread of monkeypox, including advising infected people to abstain from sex until the symptoms are gone and to use condoms for 2 months after their infection.

The guidelines come as the World Health Organization today upgraded the threat from the virus to ‘moderate’.

The WHO said the explosion of cases with no links to each other or Africa means the current figure is ‘likely to be an underestimate’.

It has warned that if infections continue to happen then vulnerable people and children — who are more likely to die from the virus — could start to catch it.

So far the outbreak, which was first detected in early May, has spread to 24 countries, with the UK, Spain and Portugal logging the most infections.

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