Monkeypox case confirmed in the UK
Last week on Thursday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed a case of monkeypox. This viral infection is passed on to humans from a few infected animals such as rodents. The person affected has a recent history of traveling to Nigeria from where they seemed to have gotten infected by the virus. The first occurrence of the virus in the UK took place in 2018 when three people including a healthcare worker had contacted the virus.
The UKHSA stated that monkeypox is a self-limiting viral infection that does not spread easily among humans, due to its self-limiting nature the virus is not an acute one. However, severe illness may occur in certain cases.
Dr. Colin Brown, the Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at the UKHSA stated on Saturday “It is important to emphasize that monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the general public is very low”
“We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement (NISEI) to contact the individuals who have had close contact with the case prior to confirmation of their infection, to assess them as necessary and provide advice. UKHSA and the NHS have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed,” said Dr. Collin.
To avoid the spread of the virus the authorities are working closely with England’s National Health Service (NHS). Their plan is to track and contact all the people the Patient diagnosed with the virus has come in close contact with, in order to provide them with information regarding the virus and assistance if needed. This measure includes the health care officials contacting the passengers that were on the flight coming from Nigeria to the UK.
Symptoms of The Monkeypox
Just like any viral infection, the initial symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, chills, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. In some cases, a rash may develop over the skin of the person affected, often begging from the face and then making its way to the other parts of the body. According to healthcare reports, the rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.
Usually, since the virus is self-limiting in nature it may spread only to those who are in close contact with the person affected. The Monkeypox virus may enter the body of the person through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or openings such as the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
A Brief History of The Virus
The Monkeypox virus got its name as it had first been discovered in 1958 after two outbreaks of a Pox-like disease occurred in two colonies of monkeys where they were kept for research purposes, hence the disease was called Monkeypox.
The first human case of the virus was recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the patient was a 9-year-old boy. This incident of occurrence of the virus in humans was recorded during an accentuated effort against the outbreak of Smallpox, since that time the virus has been reported in humans quite several times in other central and western African countries.
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