So far, the UK Health Security Agency says that the majority of cases identified across Britain have been among men who have sex with men (MSM). “Those restrictions have now gone and the virus has found a niche to circulate in.” “The virus could have been introduced to the UK during the last two years, but opportunities for it to spread were limited due to social distancing,” said Prof Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh. And it looks increasingly likely that shifting behaviour has enabled a sudden explosion of infections. Monkeypox may have been circulating in UK for yearsīut the current outbreak is the first time the virus has spread widely outside Africa, causing scientists to scramble to understand what - if anything - has changed. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, where a more virulent variant is in circulation, monkeypox has killed 58 people and infected over 1,200 so far this year. The pathogen is endemic in west and central Africa, where it causes regular outbreaks. Health officials have so far detected 90 cases since the virus was first detected in England in early May, while roughly 431 suspected or confirmed cases have been found in over 20 countries worldwide. Monkeypox is the latest unexpected disease to rear its head in the UK. “I think we may well be seeing the infectious disease consequences of a prolonged period of isolation, followed by widespread exposure to a range of pathogens,” Prof Will Irving, a professor of virology at the University of Nottingham, told the Telegraph. Pathogens are circulating out of season, appearing in new regions and causing unexpected disease. Now, scientists are tracking the unusual spread of a range of viruses which have rebounded as restrictions are lifted. Over the last two years, restrictions imposed to curb Covid also disrupted the transmission of a raft of other pathogens, with the circulation of flu, adenoviruses and RSV falling drastically. An end to coronavirus lockdowns created the ideal “niche” to accelerate the global spread of monkeypox, experts have warned.
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