The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has detected 52 additional cases of monkeypox in England, one additional case in Scotland and one in Wales.
This brings the total number confirmed in the UK to 524, as of 14 June.
There are currently 504 confirmed cases in England, 13 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland and 5 in Wales.
Anyone can get monkeypox, particularly if you have had close contact, including sexual contact, with an individual with symptoms. Currently most cases have been in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men.
Contact a sexual health clinic if you have a rash with blisters and you’ve been either:
- in close contact, including sexual contact, with someone who has or might have monkeypox (even if they’ve not been tested yet) in the past 3 weeks.
- to West or Central Africa in the past 3 weeks.
UKHSA publishes first monkeypox technical briefing
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published its first technical briefing on the ongoing monkeypox outbreak. The briefing shares UKHSAanalysis with other public health investigators and academic partners.
This first publication includes updated epidemiological data, with evidence from anonymised detailed interviews with patients which are helping us to understand transmission and to determine how to target interventions.
Of the cases interviewed, 81% were known to be London residents and 99% were male. The median age of confirmed cases in the UK was 38 years old.
152 cases participated in more detailed questionnaires. In this data, 151 of the 152 men interviewed identified as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men, or reported same sex contact. Recent foreign travel, within 21 days prior to symptom onset, was reported by 75 cases, with 59 of these reporting travel within Europe.
We also share preliminary assessment of the genomic differences between the outbreak virus and previous monkeypox viruses. In any emerging infection outbreak we assess the virus or bacteria for any changes. We will be working to investigate the significance of the mutations identified so far to determine if they will have any impact on the virus’ behaviour
