CONFIRMED monkeypox cases in the UK have more than doubled to 57.
The figure, released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Monday, was an increase from the previously confirmed 20 cases.
Scotland confirmed its first case on Monday. There are 56 confirmed cases in England.
Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency and Public Health Wales each said they have had no confirmed cases.
Health officials said that while the outbreak is “significant and concerning”, the risk to the UK population remains low.
The UK Government has stocks of the smallpox vaccine which is being offered to very close contacts of those affected.
Those at the highest risk of contracting the disease are being asked to self-isolate at home for 21 days, with others warned to be on the lookout for symptoms.
Transmission between people is occurring in the UK, with a large proportion of cases identified in the gay and bisexual community.
Monkeypox is not normally a sexually transmitted infection, but it can be passed on by direct contact during sex.
It can also be spread through touching clothing, bedding or towels used by someone with the monkeypox rash, and through the coughs and sneezes of somebody with the infection.
The disease is usually mild but can cause severe illness in some cases.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
Monkeypox is usually found in west Africa, and does not often spread elsewhere.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, an expert in infectious diseases, said so-called superspreader events are likely to be behind the rise in global cases.
