Monkeypox: Expert outlines ‘different’ behaviour in outbreak
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This comes after the UK was warned of a “significant rise” in monkeypox cases over the next two to three weeks. Despite recording only three cases so far, Belgium has cracked down hard on Monkeypox, as health authorities note that if tested positive after arriving in Belgium, infected people will have to self isolate for a week. All three cases, the first of which was recorded on Friday, were linked to a festival in the port city of Antwerp.
The Darklands Festival in Belgium warned patrons who attended the four-day party event, that authorities had linked them to the three cases, AFP reports.
The festival said: “There’s reason to assume that the virus has been brought in by visitors from abroad to the festival after recent cases in other countries.
“The Risk Assessment Group of the federal government has asked Darklands to inform its guests about these infections.”
Around the world, cases of Monkeypox are quickly rising, with a total of 120 confirmed or suspected cases have been reported globally, including 20 in the UK with the majority of infections in Spain linked to a sauna in Madrid.
The World Health Organisation said there were a further 28 suspected cases, in addition to the 92 confirmed in 12 member states which were not endemic for the virus.
Monkeypox is a virus that is usually found in Central and Western Africa and can be transmitted by contact and droplet exposure via exhaled large droplets.
The UKHSA has also noted that it is investigating links with the virus among gay men, as at least four cases in the UK have self-identified as gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men.
Dr Claire Dewsnap, the president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV warned an outbreak of monkeypox could have a “massive impact” on access to sexual health services in Britain.
She told Sky News: ”’Our response is really critical here.
“There is going to be more diagnoses over the next week.
“How many is hard to say. What worries me the most is there are infections across Europe, so this has already spread.
“It’s already circulating in the general population.
“Getting on top of all those people’s contacts is a massive job.
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“It could be really significant numbers over the next two or three weeks.”
Dr Dewsnap said she was concerned about the impact on other infections as staff are diverted to deal with monkeypox when the “public health budget has decreased significantly over the last 10 years”.
She said: “Some clinics that have had cases have had to advise people not to walk in.
“They’ve primarily done that because if somebody has symptoms consistent with monkeypox, we don’t want people sat in waiting rooms potentially infecting other people.
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