Six people who tested positive for monkeypox have died, health departments confirm – but the disease has spread, and is expected to peak next week.
Six people who tested positive for monkeypox have died, health departments confirm – but the disease has spread, and is expected to peak next week.
The disease was discovered in eastern Africa, in a monkey that had been kept as a pet, on Tuesday.
A zoo worker, who is thought to have had close contact with the infected monkey, is among the dead and the virus has spread to a few people in the UK.
The first case of the virus was confirmed in the UK on Thursday.
A health alert has been issued for the area surrounding London Zoo, as well as nearby areas such as Dartford and Cambridge, and further areas are to be cordoned off.
People are advised to avoid contact with monkeypox or other monkey diseases and to report any symptoms that come back to their GP.
The first case was diagnosed on Thursday after it was found on a man who works at Monkeyworld, a wildlife park in Kent, by the RSPCA. The worker had been using gloves that looked as if they’d come off a monkey and had come into contact with the affected man.
The man worked with a third person, who was not using the same gloves.
“Monkeypox is very rare, but has spread around the world,” said Dr Simon Gillham, head of the RSPCA’s Public Health England (PHE) unit.
“We know that one person has died in the UK and we are treating that person as if they had monkeypox, meaning they are taking antiviral medication.”
A health alert has been issued for the area surrounding London Zoo, as well as nearby areas such as Dartford and Cambridge, and further areas are to be cordoned off. People are advised to avoid contact with monkeypox or other monkey diseases and to report any symptoms that come back to their GP.
“The situation is getting worse,” said Dr Gillham.
“We had a contact with a confirmed case in a zoo about two weeks ago and now we also have one case in a man who worked at Monkeyworld.”
The zoo worker is being treated in hospital.
Dr Gillham added: “We are using the same