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Monkeypox Update: 2 New Cases In London, England, Unrelated To First Case

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And then there were three. That’s three reported cases of monkeypox within a week in London. And three more than you typically see in a year in England. The first case was confirmed about a week ago, which I covered for Forbes on May 8. And on Friday, May 13, the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed two more cases of this rare viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus. These latter two cases appear unrelated to the first case but are closely connected with each other, having come from the same household. One of them is currently hospitalized in the expert infectious disease unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, whereas the other is isolating at home.

Obviously, the announcement of two new monkeypox cases shouldn’t be followed with words like “awesome” or “cool.” But it shouldn’t be followed with flapping your arms in a panic. The latest UKHSA announcement quoted Colin Brown, M.B., Ch.B., MSc., the UKHSA’s Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections, as saying, “We have confirmed 2 new monkeypox cases in England that are not linked to the case announced on May 7. While investigations remain ongoing to determine the source of infection, it is important to emphasise it does not spread easily between people and requires close personal contact with an infected symptomatic person.” Brown also emphasized (or emphasised with an “s”) that, “The overall risk to the general public remains very low.”

Even though the risk to the general public may be very low, the UKHSA is nevertheless working with the NHS to identify anyone else who may have come into close contact with these two new cases. This will be a case of monkeypox see, monkeypox do, as public health officials will try to quickly quarantine or isolate anyone who may have caught the virus. It’s considered quarantine when someone may have been exposed to the virus and isolation when diagnosis of monkeypox is confirmed.

The virus, which is a double-stranded DNA virus of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxvirida family, is not nearly as contagious as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). You can catch the monkeypox virus in several different ways. One is by directly contacting the blood, body fluids, or lesions of animals infected with the virus. Animals that most often carry the virus include rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and monkeys in certain countries in Africa. So if you notice that many of your friends seem to be African rope squirrels and have rashes or bumps, especially fluid-filled or pus-filled ones, you may want to keep your distance and tell them that the upcoming rave has been postponed. Although it’s not completely clear which animals may serve as the natural reservoir of the monkeypox virus, rodents are the leading candidate. Another possible way of catching the virus is via consuming meat of infected animals that has not been well-cooked. So you may want to pass on the rope squirrel casserole.

You can also catch the virus from other humans who have been infected. This can occur when you inhale larger respiratory droplets that are coughed, sneezed, or breathed out by an infected person. Such transmission does typically require more prolonged face-to-face contact. This is yet another reason not to be a close talker.

Another mode of transmission is via touching the skin lesions of someone with monkeypox or objects that have been contaminated with the virus. If you happen to be a fetus and are somehow able to read this article, a final way of catching the virus is if your mother is infected, as the virus can cross the placenta and lead to congenital monkeypox.

The illness typically comes in two phases. The first is the so-called invasion period that may consist of zero to five days of more generalized symptoms such as fevers, chills, headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, backaches, and swollen lymph nodes. The second period is the skin eruption phase when rashes and lesions that may somewhat resemble those of chickenpox or smallpox emerge. These rashes progress through the get all bumpy and then fluid-filled and then pus-filled stages, eventually scabbing over and falling off your body. While most people survive the infection after two to four weeks of symptoms, some cases of monkeypox can be more severe and even lead to death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the case fatality ratio of monkeypox has ranged from zero to 11 % with young children being more likely to die.

While monkeypox isn’t as dangerous as smallpox, it ain’t like the common cold either. That’s why public health officials take even a single case of monkeypox very seriously. Don’t pretend that you have monkeypox to get out of work or a date. If you tell your boss or your date that you have “a touch of the monkeypox,” they may end up calling the authorities on you so that you get placed in isolation. Rather than find an excuse, it’s usually better to be more straightforward and tell the person that you have tickets to the upcoming Drake concert or prefer people who bathe regularly.

The UKHSA did not elaborate on how these two new cases may have caught the virus. In fact, the announcement didn’t any further details on these people besides strongly hinting that they are humans. Having three monkeypox cases in England within such a short time span is rather unusual. Outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone, monkeypox cases have been very rare. Again it’s highly unlikely that the U.K. will see much broader spread of monkeypox from these three cases. You probably don’t need to take any special precautions aside from washing your hands thoroughly regularly and resisting the urge to touch other people’s skin lesions. Oh, and if someone tells you that he or she has monkeypox, don’t monkeypox around. Instead take it seriously and make sure that public health authorities are notified.