Michael Le Page is a person.
Monkeypox virus particles are captured in a micrograph.
The UK health security agency has a library.
There is growing concern about an outbreak of monkeypox, with dozens of confirmed cases and more emerging by the day.
We know what we know so far.
Monkeypox is a disease that can be spread among monkeys in Central and West Africa, but can also jump to people and cause small outbreaks.
It was first seen in monkeys. The first human case was identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.
The University of Oxford, Boston Children's Hospital and their colleagues have compiled a list of monkeypox cases that are either confirmed or suspected worldwide.
There are nine confirmed cases in the UK. Spain has seven confirmed and 24 suspected cases, while Portugal has 14 confirmed and 20 suspected cases. Belgium has two suspected cases and one confirmed case. France and Sweden have one confirmed case each.
There is one confirmed and one suspected case in the US. There are one confirmed and 21 suspected cases in Canada. There is one confirmed and one suspected case in Australia.
Kraemer thinks these cases are the beginning of a bigger problem.
Kraemer and Brownstein say that is not yet clear.
The first person to be confirmed to be in the UK had traveled to Nigeria. They were hospitalized on 6 May after developing a rash, but have recovered. Two of the other UK cases are linked to this first one, but the latest four cases in the UK have no known links to previous cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
The monkeypox virus is now spreading from person to person in the countries with known cases, according to the latest update from the UKHSA.
Gay men, bisexual men and men who have sex with men are the majority of recent cases in the UK.
According to the World Health Organization, monkeypox can be transmitted by droplets in the air and by contact with the skin. The WHO doesn't use the term airborne.
Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur through large respiratory droplets, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Respiratory droplets cannot travel more than a few feet, so face-to-face contact is required.
The UKHSA says the risk to the UK population remains low despite the ongoing outbreak.
Monkeypox can be spread by close contact with clothing, towels or bedding used by aninfecting person.
It isn't regarded as a sexually transmitted disease, but can be passed on via skin-to-skin contact.
In parts of West and Central Africa, monkeypox can be caught from wild animals. If you are bitten or touched the animal's blood, bodily fluids, spots, blisters or scabs, this may happen. The undercooked meat of an animal may be the source of Monkeypox.
According to the UKHSA, the first symptoms of monkeypox include a high temperature, headaches, muscle aches, backache, and swollen lylas.
A rash can start on the face and then spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals. The rash can look like chickenpox.
Most people recover within a few weeks without treatment for monkeypox.
According to the CDC, monkeypox can be fatal in as many as 1 in 10 people. The two main types of monkeypox are the West African strain and the Congo strain. The West African strain is deadly in around 1 in 100 reported cases, according to the WHO.
The West African strain has been identified in the UK. Information about the virus is not yet available in other parts of the world.
The WHO says the case fatality ratio is the proportion of deaths in those confirmed to be infectious. With diseases that can be mild, many cases go undetected, meaning the ratio of deaths to infections can be lower.
Children with monkeypox are more likely to become seriously ill than adults.
It can also lead to stillbirth.
Yes. The drug Tpoxx is approved in Europe for treating monkeypox, smallpox and cowpox. It is only approved for the US. The survival rate of animals given high doses of monkeypox was increased by tecovirimat.
The US and Europe have approved a vaccine called Jynneos for preventing monkeypox and smallpox in people over the age of 18.
Babies should have some protection because those who are old enough to have been vaccined should. The US and the UK ended routine smallpox vaccinations in the 70s.
Most of the monkeypox outbreaks outside Africa involve a few cases with very limited local spread. The UK reported three cases in one household, one of which had traveled to Nigeria. Two people in the UK, including a healthcare worker, were affected by a person arriving from Nigeria.
There have been large outbreaks in Africa. In 2001 and 2002, there were 485 cases and 25 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the virus is present in monkeys.
There were 122 confirmed or probable cases in Nigeria in the last two years. Many cases are not reported.
That is not known. The number of cases reported in several countries suggests that this strain is more transmissible than others. There are chance events that can help spread a virus.
Brownstein says it's too early to have any insight into what's happening.
If the West African strain is different from the others, health officials will be able to determine if all of the cases are related.
The expectation is that the outbreak can be contained by contact tracing. The UK is giving vaccines to people who are considered to be at high risk of getting the virus.
Brownstein doesn't think the science points to a swine flu outbreak.
The emergence of monkeypox as a significant human pathogen is indisputably a realistic scenario.
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Brownstein's affiliation and Tpoxx's geographical approval have been changed.
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