Tag: blamed

An infectious diseases expert has said superspreader events are likely behind the global surge in monkeypox cases.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome, said there have been small outbreaks in the past with cases in the UK – but “something has changed” with this one.

“The virus may have changed, but I think that’s unlikely,” he told BBC Radio 4’sToday programme.

“More likely is, I think, that the niche that this virus now finds itself in has allowed for some superspreader events and those individuals involved in that have then travelled to other parts of the world and taken the infection with them.”

He said the fact the virus has “spread across borders so quickly” is different from what has happened before.

Additional reporting by PA

“When will we learn?” Julia Baines from Peta UK asks.

“Now that monkeypox has been detected in Canada, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the US, we should accept that our toxic relationship with animals is sleepwalking us into disaster.”

Read her take on the spread of monkeypox here:

7 May: One case confirmed in England. Patients had recently travelled to Nigeria where they were believed to have picked the virus up.

14 May: Two people who live together in London confirmed as having monkeypox.

16 May: Four more cases confirmed: three in London and one in the North East.

18 May: Two more cases confirmed: one in London, the other in the South East.

20 May: Eleven more cases in England confirmed.

Another announcement on monkeypox cases expected later today. Stay tuned for more.

Experts who have monitored previous outbreaks of monkeypox have said they are “stunned” by the recent spread of the virus in Europe and North America.

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has said monkeypox is not a “repeat” of the Covid pandemic.

Watch his make the comments here:

The UK is expected to announce an increase on its 20 confirmed cases of monkeypox later today.

It comes after a senior doctor warned new cases were being reported every day.

Furvah Shah reports on the situation in the UK:

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: