A confirmed case of monkeypox in the UK has been announced by Public Health England (PHE).
An individual has been diagnosed with the disease and it is believed it was contracted while the person was visiting Nigeria.
The patient is currently being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, where they are receiving specialist care.
As a precaution, PHE is contacting people who might have been in close contact with the individual to provide health advice, which includes passengers who travelled on the same flight to the UK, ManchesterEveningNews reports.
Dr Meera Chand, consultant microbiologist at PHE, said: "Monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the general public is very low.
"We are following up with those who have had close contact with the patient to offer advice and to monitor them as necessary."
"PHE and the NHS have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed to minimise the risk of transmission", said a statement on the Government website.
Although rare, this is not the first time that the virus has been detected in the UK, with the first reported cases of monkeypox in September 2018.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by monkeypox virus and has been reported mainly in central and west African countries.
Monkeypox, in most cases, is a mild condition which will resolve on its own and have no long-term effects on a person’s health. Most people recover within a few weeks.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body. The rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.
