WHO Concerned About 7 Cases of Monkeypox in UK

WHO Concerned About 7 Cases of Monkeypox in the UK. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that UK authorities are coordinating with health authorities in the UK and other European. The countries following identification of at least seven cases of monkeypox in the UK this month.

Health officials have indicated that some of these infections can be caused by sexual contact. This would be a new advance in understanding the transmission of the virus among gay or bisexual men.

Symptoms of monkeypox in humans  include lesions, fever, myalgia, and chills.

Transmission usually occurs through close contact with infected animals such as rodents and monkeys. This is limited to humans. Fatal only in rare cases.

The UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) said it had discovered four new cases.  after registering three cases in early May on Monday.

All four additional cases involved men who had sex with men or identified as gay or bisexual, according to the UKHSA.

WHO Concerned About Increasing Cases of Monkeypox in the UK

The link to the three previously identified monkeypox cases is unknown but he added that the first case was linked to a trip from Nigeria.

Patients requiring medical attention are in specialized infectious disease wards at hospitals in London and Newcastle, officials said.

The WHO said another “potentially additional” case had been reported in the United Kingdom.

“There are infections between men who have sex with men,” Ibrahima Soze Fall. The  Deputy Chief Secretary of the WHO Cabinet for Emergency Response, told reporters.

“The needs to be carefully examined to better understand local transmission dynamics in the United Kingdom and some other countries.”

Another WHO staff member, Maria Van Kerkhove, said the organization is working with its regional offices.  The US Centers for Disease Control , Prevention and UKHSA, to better understand the Monkeypox in the UK outbreak.

“We are working very closely with them to evaluate each of these cases, their source of infection” she added.

Van Kerkhove said, “forward contact tracing is involved to ensure there is no more human-to-human transmission.  The reverse contact tracing to better understand the source of the infection.”