[Xinhua News Agency] A monkeypox patient was found in England recently. Experts suspect the patient has contracted monkeypox virus in the African country of Nigeria, and health authorities are investigating his close contacts.
The British Health and Safety Authority said in a statement on the 7th that the patient recently returned to the United Kingdom by plane from Nigeria and is now receiving treatment in the respiratory infectious disease isolation ward of a hospital in London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
Reuters quoted Colin Brown, director of the clinical and emerging infections division at the Health Security Agency, as saying that monkeypox “is not easily spread from person to person” and that the risk of infection to the general public is “very low” and there is no need to be overly nervous .
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease. Monkeypox virus can be transmitted from animals to people through close contact, and it can also be spread from person to person, usually through broken skin. The symptoms of the patients are similar to those of smallpox patients. They usually have flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, or swollen lymph nodes at the beginning of the onset, and then develop a widespread rash on the face and body. The course of the disease is usually 2 to 4 weeks.
Congo (DRC) discovered the first human case of monkeypox in 1970. Since then, there have been multiple outbreaks of monkeypox in the West African country. According to the British “Times” report on the 8th, in West Africa, the mortality rate of human infection with monkeypox virus is about 1%, and children are particularly affected. In addition, monkeypox viruses in humans are often derived from rodents. An outbreak of monkeypox in the United States in 2003 infected dozens of people. The source of the infection can be traced back to the pet trade in Ghana, an African country. (End) (Wang Xinfang)
Key words: monkeypox, UK Health Security Agency