Until now, monkeypox had only ever been detected in four countries outside of Africa - the UK, US, Israel and Singapore.Īnd all of those cases had travel links to Nigeria and Ghana.
The infection can also be passed on through contact with clothing or linens used by an infected person. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection by nature, though it can be passed on by direct contact during sex.Ĭontagious lesions, through which infections are most likely to be passed on, can appear on any part of the body. One vaccine, Imvanex, was shown to be around 85 per cent effective in preventing monkeypox infection.Īntivirals and pooled blood from individuals vaccinated against smallpox can be used to treat severe cases.
The skin lesions are painful and disfiguring, and can be the source of further infections.īecause monkeypox is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox, jabs for smallpox can also protect people from getting monkeypox. Monkeypox shuts down some aspects of your body's ability to fight infections.īecause of the presence of other viruses and bacteria which your body can't fight off, in the worst cases patients can succumb to a lethal shock throughout the body and blood poisoning.ĭeath is more likely to occur in younger patients. The milder strain causing the current outbreak kills one in 100 - similar to when Covid first hit. However it can kill up to 10 per cent of people it infects. Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment. Only a handful of cases have been reported outside of Africa until now and they were confined to people with travel links to the continent. The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the infection has been reported in a number of central and western African countries since then. Monkeypox was first discovered when an outbreak of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research in 1958. However, it can also be transmitted through very close contact with an infected person. It is usually spread through direct contact with animals such as squirrels, which are known to harbour the virus.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which people usually pick up in the tropical areas of west and central Africa.