What is Monkeypox and is it a threat?
Monkeypox can be caught from infected wild animals in parts of central and west Africa. It's thought to be spread by rodents, such as rats, mice and squirrels.
It can be spread by:
An infected animal if you're bitten or have touched its blood, body fluids, spots, blisters or scabs.
(Possibly could be spread by) eating meat from an infected animal that has not been cooked thoroughly, or by touching other products from infected animals (such as animal skin or fur)
Touching clothing, bedding, or towels used by someone with the monkeypox rash.
Touching monkeypox skin blisters or scabs.
The coughs or sneezes of a person with the monkeypox rash
Close contact with someone who is infected, including sexual intercourse.
Symptoms of monkeypox
It is known to be unlikely to get infected with monkeypox in the UK unless you have recently visited Central or West Africa, or done anything else listed above.
If you get infected with monkeypox, it usually takes between 5 and 21 days for the first symptoms appear.
A high temperature
Headache
Muscle aches
Backache
Swollen glands
Shivering (chills)
Exhaustion
A rash tends to appear 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms. The rash often begins on the face, then spreads to other parts of the body. The Rash is often confused with Chickenpox. It starts as raised spots, which change into small fluid-filled blisters. Eventually, the blisters form scabs and fall off and symptoms usually disappear in 2 to 4 weeks.
So why does it matter now?
Recently, in May 2022, there has been an increase in cases in multiple countries including the UK, America, Europe, Canada and Australia. In the UK, there are now at least 20 confirmed cases and has been described as "undoubtedly worrying" by scientists.
With the virus usually being found in West or Central Africa, and usually not being spread outside of that, this has caused concern for many of the countries that now have confirmed cases.
In the UK, the cases are not all in one cluster, with separate cases springing that are unconnected and experts are piecing together via contact tracing how the disease is moving through the community.
As of May 15th, two confirmed cases were from the same family, but were unrelated to the initial case.
Separately, six other cases have been confirmed in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men who have attended sexual health services.
Two of these cases have contacts in common.
Normally, monkeypox is not a sexual-transmitted infection, but it can be passed on by direct contact during sex. The current cluster of monkeypox cases is men who have sex with men, but experts warn of drawing conclusions about how the virus was transmitted.
It is important to note that although the current cases are being spread through sexual intercourse and through same sex contact, it is not limited to this and can be caught no matter a person's sexual orientation.
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This article has been written for educational purposes, the information for the article has been taken from the NHS official website and a Itv news article.
If you would like to know more or read more information on monkeypox or the original article please click here.
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