The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that 77 additional cases of the monkeypox virus have been discovered in the UK, bringing the total to 302.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that 287 cases have been spotted in England, 10 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland, and 3 in Wales.
The government announced that 11 cases were discovered last Thursday after updates were not provided over the Jubilee weekend.
The UKHSA insists that the risk monkeypox poses to the general population is “low” due to the fact that it does not spread easily. But most cases have been spotted among men who have sex with men.
The UKHSA has not shared the age, region or gender of those infected with monkeypox.
Britons who have a rash with blisters and have been in close contact with someone who might have monkeypox or have been to west or central Africa, where the virus is endemic, are being urged to contact a sexual health service.
Last week, the UKHSA’s data revealed that more than 50 percent of monkeypox cases were found in men who are gay, bisexual, or other men who have sexual contact with men. The data also showed that cases have mostly occurred in people aged 20 to 49 years old.
It comes after the World Health Organisation warned monkeypox cases could be “amplified” during the festival period through summer.
WHO Europe regional director Dr. Hans Henri Kluge said in a statement: “The WHO European region remains at the epicentre of the largest and most geographically widespread monkeypox outbreak ever reported outside of endemic areas in western and central Africa.
“Even as new patients present every day, investigations into past cases show that the outbreak in our region was certainly underway as early as mid-April.”
He added: “Based on the case reports to date, this outbreak is currently being transmitted through social networks connected largely through sexual activity, primarily involving men who have sex with men.
