As of May 23, UKHSA had reported 56 confirmed cases. This was soon followed by two additional cases who share a household and four cases among gay and bi men, all of whom appear to have contracted the virus locally. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported the first case in the current outbreak on May 7, a man who had recently traveled to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. The new cases have so far been mild, with no deaths reported. Experts stress that monkeypox does not spread as easily as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and they do not expect a pandemic of that scale. Nonetheless, others should be aware that they, too, could be at risk.
So far, these cases have “mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men,” according to the WHO. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating five monkeypox cases in the United States, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has now confirmed 92 cases in around a dozen countries. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 19 and has been updated to incorporate new information.
