hollydolly
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Monkeypox has now been spotted in Portugal and Spain, in what could be the first global outbreak of the rare disease.
Spain is monitoring eight men who it believes are infected, with tests being carried out to confirm they have the virus.
All of the men are gay or bisexual, according to local media, and most were detected at STI clinics in Madrid.
Five men in Portugal have also tested positive and at least 15 more cases are being investigated, health officials there said today.
These cases are all male and mostly 'young' — but it is not yet clear how they caught the virus.
Until now, monkeypox cases were confined to travellers and their relatives returning from western and central Africa, where the virus is endemic.
But experts now fear it is spreading more widely for the first time, after seven Britons were diagnosed in the past fortnight.
Six of them appear to have been infected in the UK and the majority are not linked, which suggests more cases are going undetected. Health chiefs are scrambling to find the source of the cases.
Four of the British patients are gay or bisexual men, and officials say the pattern of transmission is 'highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks'.
Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline he suspects UK case numbers are already 'in the tens'.
But he insisted the disease will not spread like Covid, adding: 'I would be surprised if we ever got to more than 100 cases [in Britain]'.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people. The tropical disease is endemic in parts of Africa and is known for its rare and unusual rashes, bumps and lesions
Regions across Spain have been put on alert following the announcement of eight suspected cases in Madrid.
Confirmation is still awaited from the National Centre for Microbiology but health chiefs say 'great care must be taken.'
The country's top public health doctor, Fernando Simón, said 'it is not likely that monkeypox will generate a significant transmission but it cannot be ruled out'.
The Spanish health alert system has called on communities to notify public health services 'urgently' of patients with symptoms.
He said it was now necessary to take extreme surveillance measures and investigate all the hypotheses about the routes of contagion.
Officials in the US are keeping tabs on six people who were in close contact with a UK monkeypox case.
The Americans were on the same flight as the patient who travelled from Nigeria to the Britain on May 4, and became the first case of the virus there.
The potential US cases sat within a three-row radius of his seat, according to Jennifer McQuiston, a senior CDC official.
She told STAT News the Americans will be monitored for 21 days.
McQuiston also warned that Britain's current spate of cases could be the tip of the iceberg.
The lack of travel links and connections between UK cases suggest there are 'unknown chains of transmission happening', she said.
'You have two clusters that have no link to travel or to other people who are known to be associated with a recognized outbreak.
'It suggests that there are unknown chains of transmission happening.
Spain is monitoring eight men who it believes are infected, with tests being carried out to confirm they have the virus.
All of the men are gay or bisexual, according to local media, and most were detected at STI clinics in Madrid.
Five men in Portugal have also tested positive and at least 15 more cases are being investigated, health officials there said today.
These cases are all male and mostly 'young' — but it is not yet clear how they caught the virus.
Until now, monkeypox cases were confined to travellers and their relatives returning from western and central Africa, where the virus is endemic.
But experts now fear it is spreading more widely for the first time, after seven Britons were diagnosed in the past fortnight.
Six of them appear to have been infected in the UK and the majority are not linked, which suggests more cases are going undetected. Health chiefs are scrambling to find the source of the cases.
Four of the British patients are gay or bisexual men, and officials say the pattern of transmission is 'highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks'.
Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline he suspects UK case numbers are already 'in the tens'.
But he insisted the disease will not spread like Covid, adding: 'I would be surprised if we ever got to more than 100 cases [in Britain]'.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people. The tropical disease is endemic in parts of Africa and is known for its rare and unusual rashes, bumps and lesions
Regions across Spain have been put on alert following the announcement of eight suspected cases in Madrid.
Confirmation is still awaited from the National Centre for Microbiology but health chiefs say 'great care must be taken.'
The country's top public health doctor, Fernando Simón, said 'it is not likely that monkeypox will generate a significant transmission but it cannot be ruled out'.
The Spanish health alert system has called on communities to notify public health services 'urgently' of patients with symptoms.
He said it was now necessary to take extreme surveillance measures and investigate all the hypotheses about the routes of contagion.
Officials in the US are keeping tabs on six people who were in close contact with a UK monkeypox case.
The Americans were on the same flight as the patient who travelled from Nigeria to the Britain on May 4, and became the first case of the virus there.
The potential US cases sat within a three-row radius of his seat, according to Jennifer McQuiston, a senior CDC official.
She told STAT News the Americans will be monitored for 21 days.
McQuiston also warned that Britain's current spate of cases could be the tip of the iceberg.
The lack of travel links and connections between UK cases suggest there are 'unknown chains of transmission happening', she said.
'You have two clusters that have no link to travel or to other people who are known to be associated with a recognized outbreak.
'It suggests that there are unknown chains of transmission happening.
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Here we go again. I think people inoculated against smallpox should not have to worry. It seems to be attacking men so far not women. Does anyone know of any female cases? Keeping bed linens clean can help, so I hear, in case any little varmints get to you while sleeping. I'm not going to worry. I've got enough to cope with. 
Peace.
We heard about it in the news, yesterday.
