What is monkeypox

'This is not the kind of spread we've seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,' one expert said.

Alongside this we are receiving reports of further cases being identified in other countries globally. “We haven’t seen anything to say that the transmission patterns of monkeypox have been changing in Africa. So if something different is happening in Europe, then Europe needs to investigate that.” She said a notable proportion of recent cases in the UK and Europe have been found in gay and bisexual men, and encouraged them to be particularly “alert to the symptoms and seek help if concerned”. Health officials in Spain and Portugal also said their cases were in young men who mostly had sex with other men. “We expect this increase to continue in the coming days and for more cases to be identified in the wider community. Experts who have monitered previous outbreaks of monkeypox have said they are “stunned” by the recent spread of the virus in Europe and North America. Tomori, who sits on several WHO advisory boards, added: “This is not the kind of spread we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West.”

Waning population immunity against smallpox — a result of discontinued vaccination campaigns for the now-eradicated disease — “has established the landscape ...

We have a disease potential which seems to be materializing at the moment for which we have an option. It should raise the attention of health agencies to be prepared.” “This should be taken into account for the preparedness plans of authorities. Eleven of them described outbreaks from 10 different countries that included 49 patients with monkeypox — none of whom were vaccinated. According to Hoet and colleagues, 21 articles reviewed by the researchers reported smallpox vaccination status. The researchers noted that smallpox vaccination provides some cross-protection against monkeypox.

The range and number of cases has puzzled doctors, who are asking why the virus has spread to the west.

Alternatively, it could just be that we have an encountered a perfect storm of conditions that have allowed the virus to spread this way. “Either the virus is inherently different now or perhaps our susceptibility to it has changed. The virus is only transmitted from person to person through close physical contact – including sexual intercourse.

If you're still reeling from the Covid pandemic, well sorry but there's another virus to get to grips with. This time it's monkeypox and there are around 80 ...

This makes the job of finding people who may have been infected and vaccinating those at risk of catching it easier. Instead many of the cases appear unrelated, so there are missing links in a chain that seems to spread across Europe and beyond. It is mostly mild, although it can be more dangerous in young children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems. Monkeypox is a DNA virus so it does not mutate as rapidly as Covid or flu. Somebody in the rainforests of Western and Central Africa comes into contact with an infected creature and the virus makes the jump across species. This time it's monkeypox and there are around 80 confirmed cases in 11 countries, including the UK, that would not normally expect to have the disease.