*UK health bosses today logged another 36 cases in England, while the first infection was reported in Scotland
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Britain’s monkeypox outbreak today nearly tripled in size as health officials confirmed another 37 patients have caught the tropical virus.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses have now logged 57 cases in little over a fortnight. At least one child has been sickened. No one has died yet.
Authorities described the outbreak — which has disproportionately struck gay and bisexual men — as ‘significant and concerning’ but insisted the risk to the UK population remains low.
UKHSA’s chief medical adviser Dr Susan Hopkins thanked people for coming forward for testing, saying they were helping contain the spread of the virus. Anyone with an unusual rash or lesions, or other monkeypox symptoms, is advised to contact a sexual health service, with gay and bisexual men in particular encouraged to be alert.
He urged the traditional rulers, president generals, youth leaders, women leaders and market leaders in all the 181 communities to support the police and other law enforcement agencies with relevant informations regarding the activities of the gunmen if the act must stop.
He cited the lack of timely information to the police as one of the factors responsible for the escalation of the situation in the state.
Boris Johnson today claimed it was important for No10 to ‘keep an eye on the outbreak. The Prime Minister ruled out introducing any Covid-like travel measures or holding an emergency COBRA meeting, however.
The Government has stocks of a smallpox vaccine which is being offered to very close contacts of those affected, including NHS workers. Hospitals have been sent 1,000 doses to dish out as part of the inoculation strategy, with thousands more stockpiled.
Britons at the highest risk of contracting the disease are being asked to self-isolate at home for 21 days.
Monkeypox is usually found in West Africa, and the virus does not often spread elsewhere. That is why outbreaks reported across Europe, Canada, Australia and the US have caused alarm among public health experts. Sixteen countries have all detected the virus this month.
It comes as MailOnline revealed today that NHS hospitals only have room to treat dozens of monkeypox patients and experts say hospitals could run out of beds soon if the outbreak continues to worsen.
Current guidance says confirmed cases who need hospital care must go to high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) units. Only 15 such beds existed across the UK before Covid struck. Capacity was ramped up during the pandemic but sources within the health service say it still only stands in the region of 50.
NHS bosses insist the country is equipped to deal with the outbreak through its ‘tried and tested plans’.
Hospital insiders also say current HCID capacity is less than 50 per cent and many of the patients will be quarantined at home, instead.
Experts today told this website that there is ‘always a risk that we can run out of beds’, and that it could happen if the ‘situation continues to deteriorate.
Scientists also, however, insisted Covid proved the NHS can create special isolation wards in the unlikely event specialist units were overwhelmed. But monkeypox is usually a mild self-limiting illness, so not everyone requires medical care.
The UKHSA confirmed England’s monkeypox toll today jumped to 36, while a first case was logged in Scotland.
The infections have all been logged since May 7.
Health chiefs have asked anyone with unusual rashes or lesions on any part of their body, especially their genitalia, to immediately contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service.
Britons should call clinics ahead of their visit. Their appointment will be treated sensitively and confidentially, experts insist.
A ‘notable proportion’ of cases detected have been in gay and bisexual men. But the UKHSA has not given an exact breakdown.
People who are high-risk contacts of confirmed cases will be asked to isolate themselves at home for up to three weeks.
They will also be offered a smallpox vaccine to reduce their risk of symptoms and severe illness.
Sixteen countries — including the US, Canada, Australia and Spain — have this month detected the virus which is usually only seen in Africa. Denmark became the latest to confirm an infection, in a man who recently returned from Spain.
Despite growing concerns about the world’s outbreak, top experts are adamant monkeypox won’t spiral out of control like Covid, which forced nations into adopting economically-crippling restrictions.
It comes as MailOnline revealed only five NHS hospitals in England are currently geared up to treat patients with an airborne HCID, which is what monkeypox is technically labelled as.
These include The Royal Free Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital, and the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Dr Nick Price, the director of the UK’s airborne HCID network, said there were just 15 HCID beds across the country pre-pandemic.
Capacity was ‘squeezed’ up to 40 during the Covid crisis, he wrote in a blog post outlining the NHS’s early Covid struggles.
Dr Price was the consultant in charge of treating Boris Johnson when the PM caught Covid and needed to be admitted to intensive care.
He said it was a ‘relief’ when the HCID network was ‘overwhelmed’ when it was having to deal with fewer than 10 cases a week. In a frank admission, he added: ‘There was no longer value in trying to contain it by moving patients to specialist units because we had no beds left.’
It is unclear whether the NHS has retained the extra HCID beds made during the pandemic, as by early March the virus patients were moved to isolated Covid hospital wards rather than specialist departments.
High-level isolation units, where HCIDs are treated, are equipped to deal with the world’s deadliest pathogens, including Ebola, bird flu and plague.
Access is restricted to specially-trained medics, who all have to wear protective gowns, masks, visors and gloves before entering.
Dr Simon Clarke, an infectious disease expert based at the University of Reading, said: ‘If there were a problem with numbers, there is no reason why a hospital couldn’t create a “monkeypox ward”.’
He also warned it was possible this could happen if the ‘situation continues to deteriorate.
However, he added: ‘I don’t think anyone really has a good idea of how prevalent this currently is in the UK.
‘It could be a mistake to use all the HCID beds for monkeypox, as some will need to be kept available for other things.’
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘The NHS has tried and tested plans in place for treating sporadic cases of infectious diseases, such as monkeypox, through a network of highly specialised centres providing expert care.
‘The NHS is working closely with UKHSA to ensure the small number of people identified are treated in line with their guidance.’
Downing Street said the UKHSA is monitoring monkeypox ‘extremely carefully’. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The facts we know is monkeypox is not usually spread easily between people, and the risk to others remains low.
The strategy, known as ring vaccination, involves jabbing and monitoring anyone around an infected person to form a buffer of immune people to limit the spread of the disease. EU health chiefs today called on member states to adopt a similar plan.
As part of its strategy, sources say the UK has already ordered an extra 20,000 vaccines. The UKHSA has not yet disclosed exactly how many close contacts have already been vaccinated.
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