The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed an individual has been diagnosed with monkeypox in England. A rare case of monkeypox has been confirmed in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced on Saturday. There’s no cure for the Africa-linked infection, which can cause severe disease in some people, British medics say
The agency emphasized that monkeypox is a rare viral infection that doesn’t spread easily between people. For most, it is a mild disease that disappears within a few weeks but some can develop severe illness.
The patient who has been diagnosed with monkeypox had recently arrived in the UK from Nigeria, and is being treated at the infectious disease isolation unit of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital in Central London.
The agency considers the overall risk to the general public “very low.”
Monkeypox is similar to human smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980, and can be confused with chickenpox. Its initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. A rash often begins on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.
According to the UK National Health Service (NHS), monkeypox can be caught from infected wild animals in parts of West and Central Africa.
“It’s thought to be spread by rodents, such as rats, mice and squirrels,” the NHS says.
Only a few people have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the UK and all of them travelled to West Africa or were close contacts of someone who had travelled there.
