Monkeypox virus outbreak news: More than 100 cases reported as WHO warns of ‘formidable’ challenges

Monkeypox is not a “repeat of” Covid-19, a UK government minister has assured.

“As with any new disease, and obviously after the Covid pandemic doubly so, we continue to monitor this very closely,” Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News.

“I would say I am cautious but I am certainly not concerned about our ability to handle the situation.

“There is a vaccine which is available and works for monkeypox, and all the evidence is that it is spread by physical contact.

Mr Clarke added: “What I would say is we are cautious but we are certainly not in a position where I would in anyway worry the public that this is some repeat of Covid, because it certainly does not appear to be anywhere near the same platform of seriousness.”

Joe Biden has also said the smallpox vaccine works for monkeypox.

Asked whether the US has enough stockpiles of that vaccine to handle the monkeypox spread, the US president said: “I think we do have enough to deal with the likelihood of a problem.”

The US president has sought to calm concerns about recent cases of monkeypox around the globe.

Joe Biden said at the weekend the virus was something “to be concerned about”.

He has now clarified: “I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with Covid-19.”

Here is a quick reminder about what we know about monkeypox so far:

Belgium has become the first country a compulsory 21-day quarantine for monkeypox patients.

All those testing positive for monkeypox virus would have to self-isolate for three weeks Belgian health authorities have said, after at least four cases were confirmed.

An increasing number of countries are reporting their first cases of monkeypox while the tally has been rising in countries where the virus is already present. The outbreak is now said to be the “largest and most widespread ever seen in Europe” where a dozen of countries have reported cases.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that there are 20 cases of monkeypox in the country since the first case was detected on 6 May. “We anticipated that further cases would be detected through our active case finding with NHS services and heightened vigilance among healthcare professionals,” Susan Hopkins said.

In the US, the tally is expected to rise to three after a health agency is running tests on an individual in south Florida. The case in Broward County, Florida, is “related to international travel,” CDC said on Sunday. The two other cases have been detected in Massachusetts and New York city.

The total tally in Spain reached 30 after 23 cases were confirmed in a single day. A sauna in Madrid has been linked to a majority of cases which has been closed. Madrid authorities said they are working on tracing the cases mainly from a super-spreader event in the sauna.

Canada has confirmed five cases of the virus since the first was detected on Friday. Authorities said provinces are continuing to investigate “a couple dozen” possible cases throughout Canada and more are expected to be confirmed in the coming days.

Australia has at least two cases of monkeypox after the cases were detected in people returning from abroad. A man in his 30s who arrived in Melbourne on Monday was confirmed to have the virus, Victoria state’s health department said, while another case was identified in Sydney in a man in his 40s who had recently travelled to Europe.

The country has become the first in the world to make 21-day quarantine for the patients affected by the virus. It has at least five cases of the virus.

The country has 21 to 30 confirmed cases, according to WHO. All the Portuguese cases involve men, most of them young, authorities said.

In Europe, other countries to report at least one to five infections are France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.

Over the weekend, Austria, Israel and Switzerland became the latest countries to confirm their first monkeypox virus cases.

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) confirmed the first case of monkeypox in the canton of Bern in a person with travel history abroad. The person has been isolated and contact tracing is being conducted.

“Currently, an accumulation of monkeypox infections is observed in Europe and North America. A first case has also been confirmed in Switzerland (Canton Bern),” it said.

On Sunday, Austria confirmed one suspected case of monkeypox in Vienna. The person had a mild illness with light fever and pustules on his face.

Late Saturday, Israel also confirmed its first case of the virus, making it the very first case of monkeypox in the Middle East. Israel‘s Health Ministry said late Saturday the man was in a Tel Aviv hospital in good condition. It called on anyone returning from abroad with fever and lesions to see a doctor.

The UK government has said high-risk contacts of patients with monkeypox should self-isolate for three weeks and avoid contact with children under 12.

Issuing new guidance, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) now recommends that people who have had “unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact” should isolate.

The advisory includes no travel, providing details for contact tracing and avoiding direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12.

In his first public comment on the virus, US president Joe Biden said on Sunday that the spike in cases in the world shows there was something “to be concerned about”.

He said: “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”

He spoke to reporters at Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he visited troops before taking off for Japan to continue his first trip to Asia as president.

“They haven’t told me the level of exposure yet but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” Mr

Biden said. He added that work was underway to determine what vaccine might be effective. Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters aboard the flight to Tokyo that the US has a supply of “vaccine that is relevant to treating monkeypox.”

“We have vaccine available to be deployed for that purpose,” he said.

The US has two confirmed cases of monkeypox, with another 50 suspected in the country.

A senior World Health Organisation (WHO) adviser said the latest outbreak of monkeypox in countries where the virus is not endemic is highly unusual as a meeting was convened “because of the urgency of the situation”.

David Heymann, the senior WHO adviser, said the health agency is working on further guidance for countries on how to mitigate the spread of monkeypox, as cases have reached 100-mark globally.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “As we speak our colleagues around the world are responding to outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, monkeypox and hepatitis of unknown cause and complex humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen.

“We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry,” the WHO head added.

Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, where a majority of cases have been detected, cases are expected to rise more in summers.

“As we enter the summer season … with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission could accelerate”.