Britain has recorded 77 new cases of monkeypox, raising the total to 302.

The UK has recorded another 77 monkeypox cases, bringing the total to 302, according to health officials today.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed 287 cases in England, ten in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, and three in Wales.

The virus can infect anyone and is spread through intimate contact with an infected person. However, the majority of cases have been observed in guys who have intercourse with men.

The age, area, and gender of persons infected with monkeypox have not been disclosed by the UKHSA.

Britons with a rash with blisters who have been in close touch with someone who may have monkeypox or who have traveled to west or central Africa, where the virus is endemic, are recommended to consult a sexual health service.

It comes as specialists warn that the virus may continue to circulate until next year.

However, they observed that contact tracing, isolating affected people, and vaccination them and their close contacts could shorten the outbreak’s length.

High-risk contacts of confirmed cases are being contacted by teams from the UK Health Security Agency, who are advising them to self-isolate at home for three weeks and avoid contact with children.

The Imvanex vaccine is being offered to both confirmed cases and close contacts in order to create a buffer of immune people around a confirmed case, limiting the disease’s spread.

The ring vaccination strategy has been used in previous monkeypox outbreaks and is currently being used in some EU countries.

Monkeypox was first discovered in lab monkeys in the late 1950s, and while it is usually mild, it can cause serious illness in some people.

It has the potential to kill up to 10% of those infected. The current outbreak, however, is caused by a milder strain that kills one in every 100 people, similar to when COVID-19 first appeared. There have been no reports of monkeypox deaths linked to the ongoing outbreak.

Monkeypox has a 21-day incubation period, which means symptoms can take up to three weeks to appear.

Fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion are some of the symptoms.

A rash may appear, usually on the face, and then spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals. Scabs can form, which then fall off, and the rash can resemble chickenpox or syphilis.