Rare case of monkeypox diagnosed in England

Ambulance in London (stock photography)

A rare case of monkeypox was diagnosed in a patient in England, the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement on Saturday.

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that does not spread easily between people, the agency said, qualifying the general risk to the public as “very low”.

“The infection can spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person, however, there is a low risk of transmission in the general population,” the statement reads.

The infected person is believed to have contracted the infection in Nigeria, said the UKHSA, before traveling to the UK recently. She is recovering in London in an infectious disease isolation unit.

According to the UKHSA, initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and tiredness.

Monkeypox is in the smallpox family, which was eradicated in 1979, but is less transmissible and less fatal.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “The main difference between smallpox symptoms and monkeypox is that the latter causes the lymph nodes to swell, whereas smallpox does not.”

rodents, including animals kept as petsand monkeys can carry the virus in question and transmit it to people.

Fonte: CNN