Scotland has reported its first case of monkeypox amid an international outbreak in which infections have been confirmed in at least a dozen countries in recent weeks.
Public health in Scotland said the patient was “being managed and treated in accordance with nationally accepted protocols and guidelines” and that contact tracking was under way.
Dr Nick Finn, director of public health science and medical director at the agency, said the risk to the public was low, but urged anyone with unusual rashes, such as blisters or sores on their body, to avoid close contact with others and seek medical advice if you are worried.
“We have well-established and robust infection control procedures to deal with such infectious diseases, and they will be strictly followed,” Finn said. “We are working with NHS boards and wider partners in Scotland and the United Kingdom to investigate the source of this infection.
Contact tracking aims to identify how a person has become infected and to warn others who may be at risk. Finn said contacts are provided with health information and advice. Some may be offered a smallpox vaccine, which may be effective against monkeypox, even when given days after exposure.
The UK Health Security Agency has registered 20 confirmed cases of monkeypox in England so far and is expected to announce more on Monday.
Asked about the outbreak during a visit to a school in south-east London, Boris Johnson said: of the United Kingdom.
Asked whether there should be quarantine for visitors or the smallpox vaccine, Johnson said: “As things stand, this is a rarity. I think we are looking very closely at the circumstances of the show. It has not yet proved fatal in any of the cases we know of, certainly not in this country.
The first case of monkeypox in the United Kingdom at the last outbreak was announced on May 7 in a man who developed symptoms nearly a week before returning to London from Nigeria. Since then, other cases unrelated to West or Central Africa, where monkeypox is endemic to animals, have come to light. Most cases involve young men having sex with men, and some were infected before the case from Nigeria arrived in the country.
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People who get monkeypox can get fever or chills, headaches, muscle and back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. A blister-like rash may develop, or a small number of blister-like wounds that start in the face and then spread to the body, including the genitals.
The rash changes during the infection, with blisters eventually forming scabs that fall off within a few weeks. People with the virus are contagious between the onset of symptoms and the fall of the last scabies, Public Health Scotland reported.
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