MONKEYPOX OUTBREAK: HOW WORRYING IS IT?

This rare disease, mainly found in Africa, is unlikely to become a new pandemic in UK, but cases are going to rise over the coming weeks

- DR JEREMY ROSSMAN

Though still in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are now seeing warning signs of another disease popping up in countries around the world monkeypox. This is not a new virus (it was first discovered in 1958), nor is it new to the UK (there have been regular small outbreaks over the years). However, we are now seeing a wider spread of the virus, with 100 cases and nearly 300 -suspected cases reported in more than 16 countries, including 57 cases in the UK, as of 24 May. Are we staring down the barrel of another pandemic?

Recent years have seen 13 isolated outbreaks of monkeypox that have been mostly contained to a single country and can be traced back to travel from Central and West Africa, where the virus is thought to reside. In May and June 2021, there were three cases of monkeypox in the UK that were linked to recent travel to West Africa. However, according to the World Health Organization, the current outbreak is proceeding differently, with many more cases, more human-to-human transmission and more people that became infected outside of Africa.

In Central and West Africa, monkeypox typically spreads from infected animals to humans, though some human-to-human transmission does occur. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention states that monkeypox infections result in fever, headache, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes, followed by a rash that develops into blisters (pox) on the skin, including in the mouth, on the genitals, the eyes or the soles of the feet.