The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) verified a rare incidence of monkeypox in England on Saturday, with ties to Nigeria.
According to the organization, monkeypox is an uncommon viral infection that does not transfer easily between individuals. Most people have a moderate condition that goes away in a few weeks, but other people suffer a serious illness.
The patient with monkeypox has recently arrived in the UK from Nigeria and is being treated at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital in Central London’s infectious disease isolation unit.
“As a precautionary measure, UKHSA experts are working closely with NHS colleagues and will be contacting people who might have been in close contact with the individual to provide information and health advice,” the UKHSA said.
The agency considers the overall risk to the general public “very low.”
Monkeypox is related to human smallpox, which was eliminated in 1980, and is sometimes mistaken for chickenpox. It begins with fever, headache, muscular pains, backache, enlarged lymph nodes, chills, and tiredness. A rash usually starts on the face and spreads to other regions of the body.
Monkeypox can be contracted via diseased wild animals in portions of West and Central Africa, according to the UK National Health Service (NHS).
“It’s thought to be spread by rodents, such as rats, mice and squirrels,” the NHS says.
Only a few people have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the UK and all of them traveled to West Africa or were close contacts of someone who had traveled there.
A 2003 monkeypox outbreak in the United States was traced to a pet store where small mammals from Ghana were sold.
Although monkeypox is generally milder than smallpox, the death rate among infected people in Africa can be as high as 10%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
There is currently no cure for the virus, although the smallpox vaccine is believed to prevent infection, according to the NHS and CDC.