A senior doctor has warned that more monkeypox cases are being detected in Britain on a daily basis.
An update on confirmed cases will be released on Monday, as efforts continue to contain the outbreak using contact tracing, testing and vaccination.
The number of confirmed cases in the UK rose to 20 on Friday and is expected to climb as more people are traced and others come forward for testing. Many of the patients have no known links to other cases, so public health officials are still trying to find the source of the outbreak.
Most people with monkeypox don't need treatment and the disease resolves in two to four weeks. It can be dangerous in vulnerable people, such as pregnant women and young children.
A child is in intensive care in a London hospital, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The UKHSA didn't confirm or discuss information at the patient level.
Three days after a passenger with symptoms returned to London from Nigeria, the agency confirmed the first case of monkeypox. Some men who have sex with men have developed symptoms weeks earlier.
More than 180 confirmed or suspected cases are being investigated in at least 14 countries. In Spain and Portugal, more than half of them are.
We are detecting more cases on a daily basis and I would like to thank all of the people who are coming forward for testing to sexual health clinics. She said that the virus was spreading in the UK. We have seen cases in this country that have no contact with an individual from west Africa.
The natural source of monkeypox is believed to be rodents, even though the disease was first discovered in monkeys. In parts of west and central Africa, the virus is endemic. Only seven cases have been detected in the UK in the last three years, all linked to travel to Nigeria.
The community transmission is mostly in people who identify as gay or bisexual and other men who have sex with men. She said that cases were mostly in that group because of their frequent close contacts.
If someone develops a rash if they have changes in sex partners regularly or have close contact with people they don't know, they should come forward.
Most cases of monkeypox in Africa are caused by people coming into contact with animals that have the disease. The disease can be spread through close contact with blisters, which can appear around the mouth and genitals, as well as respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding, towels and cooking utensils.
In the latest outbreak, many patients are developing a rash within days, despite the fact that symptoms can take three weeks to appear after exposure to the virus. Patients can get a high temperature before other symptoms show up.
High-risk contacts of confirmed cases, including some healthcare workers, have been given shots of a vaccine that protects against monkeypox.
It is being used in people who are at high risk of developing symptoms and who can use it early.
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