Monkeypox is the newest infectious disease to hit the UK. A potent viral disease, it rarely occurs in humans, and is not traditionally present in western nations. The virus is normally found in central and western Africa and has two main strains, one from each area. It is believed the variant of monkeypox present in the UK originates from western Africa.
Express.co.uk has been speaking to Monika Wassermann about the condition.
Wassermann says the emergence of monkeypox in the UK “is linked to a case of an individual who got back in the country after spending some weeks in Nigeria”.
Wassermann added: “The initial victim might have spread the disease to people he contacted, though all safety measures were put into practice.”
Despite the safety measures put into practice, monkeypox continues to spread slowly through the UK; so far just a small number of cases have been identified.
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Symptoms of monkeypox include:
• Headaches
• Chills
• Swelling lymph nodes
• Rashes
• Fever
• Raised bumps
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Muscle pain
• Back pain.
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With regard to whether the public should be worried Wassermann said: “Generally, the public should worry less about the spread risk of monkeypox.
“It has a slow poor infection rate and hence cannot easily spread from one person to another, explaining the low infection rate in the country.”
Wassermann added: “With the initial infected people isolated, a breakout is very low.”
Nevertheless, it is recommended people remain vigilant of the symptoms.
Unlike other diseases such as coronavirus, monkeypox does not spread very rapidly.
The virus is only spread through large respiratory droplets
The CDC said: “Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required.
“Other human-to-human methods of transmission include direct body contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens.”
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