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Now Britain is hit by MONKEYPOX: Two patients in North Wales test positive for killer virus they caught abroad
- Matt Hancock told MPs that two cases of monkeypox have spotted in UK
- Public Health Wales confirms two people picked up the disease abroad
- The virus causes a blistering skin rash, fever and flu-like symptoms
Two cases of the rare monkeypox virus have been confirm in the UK, Matt Hancock has revealed.
Giving evidence to MPs today on the handling of the pandemic, the health secretary casually said the killer virus had been spotted.
Public Health Wales subsequently confirmed in a statement that two people in the same household in North Wales had picked up the virus abroad, but did not give further details of their location or condition.
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease which causes a blistering skin rash and feverish, flu-like symptoms. It is caused by a virus spread by monkeys, rats, squirrels and other small mammals.
The illness can spread between people either by skin-to-skin contact, coughs and sneezes or by touching contaminated clothes or bedding.
Monkeypox can be caught from various mammals including monkeys and rats and causes skin spots which then turn to blisters and can take weeks to clear up (stock image)
Giving evidence to MPs today on the handling of the pandemic, the health secretary casually confirmed the killer virus had been spotted
Discussing the trace and isolation system, Mr Hancock said it was ‘essentially build for very important, but very small outbreaks’.
‘As health secretary you are dealing with these sorts of outbreaks all the time. I am currently dealing with a monkeypox outbreak and cases of drug-resistant TB and that is absolutely standard,’ he said.
The Welsh health body said it and Public Health England are monitoring the two cases of the virus.
‘The index case was acquired overseas, and the two cases are members of the same household. Both cases were admitted to a hospital in England, where one currently remains.
‘Monitoring and follow-up of the cases and their close contacts are undertaken as part of normal practice, and the risk to the general public is very low.’
Cases of monkeypox were identified in the UK for the first time iwhen three people caught the infection in separate instances in Cornwall, Blackpool and Liverpool.
Around one in 10 people who become ill with the virus will die and most deaths occurs in younger age groups, according to the World Health Organization.
But human-to-human contact is ‘relatively limited’, it said.
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