People who come into contact with monkeypox cases should isolate for three weeks and avoid children, health experts have advised.
There are currently 20 confirmed cases in the UK.
New guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged those who have had ‘unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact’ to self-isolate.
This would include no travel, providing details for contact tracing and avoiding direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, this weekend warned monkeypox is spreading through community transmission.
Speaking to BBC One’s Sunday Morning, she said: ‘We are detecting more cases on a daily basis and I’d like to thank all of those people who are coming forward for testing to sexual health clinics, to the GPs and emergency department.’
Those who are considered at high risk of having caught monkeypox may have had household contact, sexual contact, or have changed an infected person’s bedding without wearing appropriate PPE.
The UK should expect to see more cases on a ‘daily basis’, Dr Hopkins added.
Monkeypox is rarely seen outside Africa but has been confirmed in the UK, US, Canada, Spain, Italy and more in recent weeks.
Austria, Israel and Switzerland became the latest countries to record their first cases over the weekend.
The disease, first found in monkeys, can be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse.
Globally, the number of confirmed and suspected cases has reached 145 across 13 countries.
A mandatory quarantine has been implemented in Belgium, where the isolation period is also 21 days.
The UKHSA has advised that people at high risk of having caught monkeypox should be offered a smallpox vaccine.
Dr Hopkins said: ‘We are finding cases that have no identified contact with an individual from west Africa, which is what we’ve seen previously in this country.
‘The community transmission is largely centred in urban areas and we are predominantly seeing it in individuals who self-identify as gay or bisexual, or other men who have sex with men.’
Asked why it is being found in that demographic, she said: ‘That’s because of the frequent close contacts they may have.
‘We would recommend to anyone who is having changes in sex partners regularly, or having close contact with individuals that they don’t know, to come forward if they develop a rash.’
The first case in the UK was recorded in 2018 but, unlike several of the cases being identified in this outbreak, was linked with travel to an African country where monkeypox is common.
Monkeypox produces a similar to disease to smallpox but has a lower death rate, with most people making a full recovery.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache, aching muscles, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
A rash can also develop, usually starting on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. It eventually forms a scab which falls off.
Monkeypox does not spread easily and is not airborne like Covid-19, instead relying on people coming into close contact with an infected person or animal.
On Friday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘Most cases are mild, and I can confirm we have procured further doses of vaccines that are effective against monkeypox.’
His comments came amid news a child had been rushed to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after they were diagnosed with monkeypox.
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