According to a health expert, callers with a rash who worry they could have monkeypox are flooding the NHS 111 medical service.
Mateo Prochazka, the chairman of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is asking concerned Britons to seek sexual health care locally rather than calling 111, so that 111 employees may focus on other health issues.
It comes as health officials prepare to begin isolating affected people’s pets after another 16 instances of monkeypox were discovered in the UK, bringing the total to over 100.
The UKHSA said the new patients were all based in England. There have been 106 across Britain since the first was detected on May 6. Wales and Northern Ireland declared their first cases on Thursday, while Scotland has so far logged three.
Health chiefs are alarmed about the ever-growing cluster of cases, given that until now the smallpox-like infection was confined to a handful of people with travel links to Africa. The majority are among gay and bisexual men.
Mr Prochazka told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Sexual health clinics are not just for gay and bisexual men. Anyone can be seen in a sexual health clinic, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or identity. Everyone is welcome.’
‘There are other potential routes of trying to get yourself into the system, maybe calling NHS 111, but this resource has been really overloaded with everyone calling who had a rash,’ he added, during a webinar hosted by Prepster, a volunteer group of London-based HIV prevention campaigners.
Meanwhile, a scientific group advising the UK Government has called for the pet hamsters, rabbits and other rodents owned by infected patients to be isolated for three weeks.
The Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) group said these animals were at the highest risk of catching the virus, and they could spread it into wild populations.
Experts fear that if the virus is unleashed into wild animal populations then it will become endemic and be hard to eradicate, as is the case in parts of western and central Africa.
In new guidance issued on Friday, the group said: ‘Based on current evidence, for pet rodents in households where there are infected people, temporary removal from the household for a limited quarantine period (21 days) and testing to exclude infection is recommended, particularly where there are infected human contacts who have had close direct and prolonged contact with the animal or its bedding and/or litter.’
The panel warned that hedgehogs, rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits and hares could all harbour the virus if monkeypox was to spill into Britain’s wildlife populations.
Officials are confident the monkeypox outbreak will not grow exponentially like Covid, saying the risk to the public remains low.
However, they have urged Britons, especially men who have sex with men, to be on the lookout for any new rashes or lesions, which appear like spots, ulcers or blisters, on any part of their body.
Anyone worried about a rash is advised to call their sexual health clinic immediately.
Twenty countries across the world have now been affected by the current outbreak, with Finland today becoming the latest to confirm an infection. Additionally, Argentina, Bolivia and Sudan are all probing suspected cases.
Teams from the UKHSA are contacting high-risk contacts of confirmed cases and advising them to self-isolate at home for three weeks and avoid contact with children.
Both confirmed cases and close contacts are being offered the Imvanex vaccine to form a buffer of immune people around a confirmed case to limit the spread of the disease.
The strategy, known as ring vaccination, has been used in previous monkeypox outbreaks and is also being carried out in some EU countries.
Dr Susan Hopkins, the UKHSA’s chief medical adviser, said: ‘We are continuing to promptly identify further monkeypox cases in England through our extensive surveillance and contact tracing networks, our vigilant NHS services, and thanks to people coming forward with symptoms.
‘We are asking people to look out for new spots, ulcers or blisters on any part of their body.
‘If anyone suspects they might have these, particularly if they have recently had a new sexual partner, they should limit their contact with others and contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service as soon as possible, though please phone ahead before attending in person.’
The disease, first discovered in lab monkeys in the late 1950s, is usually mild but can cause severe illness in some cases. It can kill up to 10 per cent of people it infects.
The milder strain causing the current outbreak kills one in 100 — similar to when Covid first hit.
Monkeypox has an incubation period of anywhere up to 21 days, meaning it can take three weeks for symptoms to appear.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, which then spreads to other parts of the body — including the genitals. The rash can look like chickenpox or syphilis, and scabs can form which then fall off.
The current outbreak, first detected in a traveller from Nigeria to the UK on May 6, has been linked to several super-spreader events, including a gay pride festival in Gran Canaria, a fetish festival in Belgium and a ‘sauna’ in Spain.
Experts this week revealed sexual transmission at these events is the leading theory behind the origins of the current cluster of cases.
There are already fears the global outbreak of monkeypox may mean it can never be eradicated in the UK and Europe forever.
The concerns are centred around the virus leaking into animal populations, with rodents known harbourers of monkeypox.
The HAIRS group said that it was ‘unlikely’ that an infected pet could spread the disease to wild animals but added it ‘cannot be ruled out’.
It is recommending that rodent pets are removed from households where there are infected patients and put in ‘secure accommodation’, where they will be PCR tested and isolated for 21 days.
Dogs, cats and other pets will be allowed to stay in the home with their owner but must undergo ‘regular vet checks’ after their isolation period to make sure they do not have the virus.
Justine Shotton, president of the British Veterinary Association, said the association was monitoring the situation closely.
She believes the risk of infecting pets remains low but is ‘supportive of a cautious approach’ while officials seek to learn more about the virus.
Ms Shotton said: ‘It would be a sensible decision to keep your distance from a pet while in quarantine.
‘If I was diagnosed with monkeypox I would do whatever I could to limit contact, such as asking a friend or relative to take care of it.’
She added: ‘There is currently no evidence of transmission between humans and cats and dogs but we know rabbits and rodents are susceptible.
‘If you have concerns about your pets health — if they have a fever, respiratory issues, poor appetite or lethargy — speak to a vet.
The chances are it will be something other than monkeypox but it’s worth getting it checked.’
It comes after an ex-WHO official claimed monkeypox may have been spreading under the radar in Europe for four years.
Professor David Heymann, a former former director-general for health security and environment at the WHO, said the current global outbreak may date back to a handful of isolated cases in the UK in 2018.
Two Britons were diagnosed with the tropical disease in September 2018 after returning from Nigeria. A third case was found in an NHS worker who treated one of the patients.
In December 2019, a fourth person unrelated to the previous three tested positive for the virus after returning from Nigeria. Three further cases with similar travel history arrived in 2021.
Professor Heymann suggested the virus may have been seeded in around this time and spread unchecked. All of the cases are believed to have had the milder western African clade of the virus — the same one that is spreading now.
How DO you catch monkeypox and what are the symptoms? EVERYTHING you need to know about tropical virus
How do you catch monkeypox?
Until this worldwide outbreak, monkeypox was usually caught from infected animals in west and central Africa.
The tropical virus is thought to be spread by rodents, including rats, mice and even squirrels.
Humans can catch the illness — which comes from the same family as smallpox — if they’re bitten by infected animals, or touch their blood, bodily fluids, or scabs.
Consuming contaminated wild game or bush meat can also spread the virus.
The orthopoxvirus can enter the body through broken skin — even if it’s not visible, as well as the eyes, nose and mouth.
Despite being mainly spread by wild animals, it was known that monkeypox could be passed on between people.
However, health chiefs insist it is very rare.
Human-to-human spread can occur if someone touches clothing or bedding used by an infected person, or through direct contact with the virus’ tell-tale scabs.
The virus can also spread through coughs and sneezes.
In the ongoing surge in cases, experts think the virus is passing through skin-to-skin contact during sex — even though this exact mechanism has never been seen until now.
How deadly is it?
Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment.
Yet, the disease kills up to 10 per cent of cases. But this high rate is thought to be in part due to a historic lack of testing meaning that a tenth of known cases have died rather than a tenth of all infections.
However, with milder strains the fatality rate is closer to one in 100 — similar to when Covid first hit.
The UK cases all had the West African version of the virus, which is mild compared to the Central African strain.
It is thought that cases in Portugal and Spain also have the milder version, though tests are underway.
How is it tested for?
It can be difficult to diagnose monkeypox as it is often confused with other infections such as chickenpox.
Monkeypox is confirmed by a clinical assessment by a health professional and a test in the UK’s specialist lab – the UKHSA’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory.
The test involves taking samples from skin lesions, such as part of the scab, fluid from the lesions or pieces of dry crusts.
What are the symptoms?
It can take up to three weeks for monkeypox-infected patients to develop any of its tell-tale symptoms.
Early signs of the virus include a fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion — meaning it could, theoretically, be mistaken for other common illnesses.
But its most unusual feature is a rash that often begins on the face, then spreads to other parts of the body, commonly the hands and feet.
The rash changes and goes through di
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