The Latest Breaking News from UK Health Security Agency

Monkeypox does not usually spread easily between people and the overall risk to the UK population remains low, the UK Health Security Agency has said.

It comes after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced 20 people in England had been confirmed to have the virus on Friday

The UK Health Security Agency will release updated figures on the situation in the UK on Monday, with 20 cases recorded to date.

Contacts of monkeypox cases at high risk of having caught the infection should now self-isolate for 21 days

A total of 20 monkeypox cases have thus far been confirmed by the UK Health Security Agency with a fresh update due on Monday - with a total 145 cases have been confirmed worldwide

Close contacts of monkeypox cases with a high risk of exposure should self-isolate for up to three weeks, according to new guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Guidance introduced in 2018, following the discovery of the UK's first monkeypox cases, state that contacts are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with those at risk urged to avoid the immunocompromised, children under 12 and pregnant women

In recent weeks, the disease has been identified in several non-endemic countries in recent weeks, including Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Canada and the United States.

"Monkeypox could fill the ecological niche left by smallpox" experts have warned