England reports rare infection with monkeypox virus

A rare case of infection with the monkeypox virus has been discovered in England. The patient contracted the infection in West Africa, according to the British health service UKHSA. The person was recently in Nigeria and is now being treated at a specialist hospital in London.

“It is important to emphasize that monkeypox does not spread easily among humans and the overall risk to the population is very small,” said Colin Brown, UKHSA’s medical director.

Monkeypox is a viral infection similar to the human smallpox virus (variola), which has been eradicated by a worldwide vaccination program since the late 1970s. Before there was a vaccine, the disease claimed many victims for centuries.

Monkeypox is not spread by monkeys, but presumably by African rodents such as squirrels and rats. The course of the disease is much milder than with smallpox and people who become infected usually recover within a few weeks.