Scotland Records 1st Monkeypox Case as Self-Isolation Encouraged

Symptoms of one of the first known cases of the monkeypox virus are shown on a patient's hand on June 5, 2003. CDC/Getty Images

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is advising people who have had contact with those who have contracted monkeypox to self-isolate for 21 days as Scotland recorded its first case.

Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, said monkeypox was spreading through community transmission and there have been at least 20 cases in Britain.

She said most cases were predominantly among gay and bisexual men at this stage.

Monkeypox, which originated in Africa, is a virus related to smallpox and symptoms include a bumpy rash, a fever, sore muscles, and a headache. It is less deadly than smallpox, and health officials have said that its mortality rate is between 3 and 6 percent.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on a trip to a school in London on Monday, said, “It’s basically a very rare disease, and so far the consequences don’t seem to be very serious but it’s important that we keep an eye on it and that’s exactly what the the new UK Health Security Agency is doing.”

“We’re looking very carefully at the circumstances of transmission. It hasn’t yet proved fatal in any case that we know of, certainly not in this country,” he added.

On Saturday the World Health Organization said cases had been reported in the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, the United States, Australia, and Canada.

U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Tokyo on Monday, said, “I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with COVID-19.”

A Downing Street spokesman said monkeypox was being monitored “extremely carefully” but he said Johnson had not discussed it yet with England’s Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, who led the fight against COVID-19.

Johnson is getting “regular updates” but Health Secretary Sajid Javid is taking the lead on the issue, said the spokesman, who added that “most people recover within a few weeks.”

UKHSA said people who have had “unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact” with individuals who have contracted monkeypox should stay at home and avoid contact with children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.

Among those advised to self-isolate were those who had changed an infected person’s bedding without wearing gloves or personal protection equipment.

UKHSA is also advising those at risk of contracting it to request the smallpox vaccine.

The disease is caused by a virus that was first found in monkeys but it is not known how it has crossed species.

PA Media contributed to this report.