A further 71 cases of monkeypox have been identified in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said. The total number of confirmed cases in the UK as a whole since 7 May now stands at 179.
According to Sky News, There are four confirmed cases in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, and one in Wales. The UKHSA has not been declaring Monkeypox cases over the weekend in England.
It comes as the World Health Organisation’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said she does not expect the hundreds of cases reported globally to date to turn into another pandemic. Elsewhere, Ireland announced its first case on Saturday and a suspected infection there is being investigated.
Meanwhile, The World Health Organization said Monday that it is too soon to tell whether a recent monkeypox outbreak could lead to a global pandemic, but noted that there is currently a window of opportunity to curb rising cases.
The public health body said there are “still many unknowns” related to the spike in cases in non-endemic countries outside of Africa. The WHO said the virus should not be mistaken for Covid-19 and that the risks to the general public remain low.
“We don’t want people to panic or be afraid and think that it’s like Covid or maybe worse,” Sylvie Briand, the WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said during a briefing on the outbreak. “This monkeypox disease is not Covid-19, it is a different virus,” she added.
Monkeypox is a rare but generally mild viral infection that can cause flu-like symptoms including rashes, fever, headaches, muscle ache, swelling, and back pain. Typically it is transmitted through lesions, bodily fluids, or materials that have been in contact with an infected person or animal.
Doctors have also warned that music festivals could be a super-spreader for monkeypox as UK cases enter triple figures. Health experts have shared their fears about the events becoming a hotbed for transmission, with one scientist claiming he wouldn’t enter enclosed tents.
It comes as the South London festival Mighty Hoopla is set to take place this weekend, with upcoming events causing concerns over a possible increase in cases. Dr. Will Nutland, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical, issued a warning about the risk of infection and the potential dangers of those “making out”, reports Telegraph.
The professor, who is also the co-founder of Prepster, a volunteer group for HIV prevention activists, said: “There’s been talk in some of the networks we are involved in of the potential dangers of groups of people getting together. “Particularly where groups of people may get together and drink, or get high, and start making out.
“We know there is a big two-day festival coming up [Mighty Hoopla] that’s going to attract a lot of queer people in London in a week’s time.” It has been reported that experts have also raised concerns over events that are popular with the gay community such as Pride.
