Monkeypox infection outbreak in UK, Germany, others

The UK is facing a “significant rise” in monkeypox cases over the next week, an expert has warned, as new infections were reported in mainland Europe and the US.

More than 100 confirmed or suspected cases have been reported globally – including 20 in the UK – with the majority of infections in Spain linked to a sauna in Madrid.

Switzerland recorded its first confirmed case on Saturday after an infected person developed a fever and a rash and felt unwell, authorities said.

The infection followed “close physical contact abroad” and the affected person is isolating at home, they added.

Officials in the Netherlands said on Saturday “several patients” had contracted monkeypox, a day after the country recorded its first case.

And in Germany, at least two cases of monkeypox have been recorded in Berlin after the country’s first infection was detected in Munich on Friday.

In the US, it was confirmed a patient in New York City had contracted monkeypox, after the state of Massachusetts confirmed its first case earlier this week.

It comes after Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and Canada all reported infections in the past week, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously travelled to Africa.

France, Belgium, and Australia reported their first cases on Friday.

Some UK health clinics are now stopping people walking in as they try to slow the spread of infections.

The president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) told Sky News that some clinic staff have received the smallpox vaccine, which can be effective against monkeypox, and talks are taking place about giving doses to “potential risk groups”.

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