Thursday 19 May 2022 05:04 PM Health chiefs probe gay bars and saunas amid monkeypox outbreak in UK trends now
Monkeypox contact tracers are probing gay bars and spas as they scramble to contain an outbreak of the rare disease.
Health chiefs in the UK are 'actively investigating' venues visited by six homosexual and bisexual men who tested positive in the past week.
They include bars, clubs and saunas, according to an update by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Six of Britain's nine confirmed cases are men who have sex with men, which officials say is 'highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks'.
A similar pattern has emerged in Europe, where seven gay or bisexual men tested positive in Spain and nine 'mostly young' males in Portugal.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today issued a direct plea to men to be vigilant for new rashes on their face or genitals.
Experts fear the known cases are the tip of the iceberg, with the majority of patients not linked to each other, suggesting it is spreading more widely.
Nine Britons have been diagnosed with monkeypox and all but one of them appear to have contracted it in the UK. The original UK patient had brought the virus back from Nigeria, where the disease is widespread. At least three patients are receiving care at specialist NHS units in London and Newcastle
Seven countries outside of Africa have confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox. Patients with confirmed monkeypox have been recorded in the UK, US, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Portugal, while Canada is probing potential cases
The WHO released an update on monkeypox last night that included a section on the situation in the UK.
It came before two more cases in gay or bisexual British men were announced.
The WHO said: 'Health authorities in the UK have established an incident management team to coordinate the extensive contact tracing which is currently underway in health care settings and the community for those who have had contact with the confirmed cases.
'Contacts are being assessed based on their level of exposure and followed up through active or passive surveillance for 21 days from the date of last exposure to a case. Vaccination is being offered to higher risk contacts.
'A detailed backwards contact tracing investigation is also being carried out to determine the likely route of acquisition and establish whether there are any further chains of transmission within the UK for all cases.
'Sexual contacts and venues visited (for example saunas, bars and clubs) are actively being investigated for the four GBMSM [gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men] cases.'
The UKHSA has said it is 'particularly urging men who are gay and bisexual to be aware of any unusual rashes or lesions and to contact a sexual health service without delay if they have concerns'.
Meanwhile, Italy and Sweden have become the latest countries to record cases of monkeypox.
The Italian patient tested positive at a hospital in Rome after returning from the Canary Islands and the Swede was diagnosed in Stockholm.
No further details have been given. It brings the number of countries outside of Africa with confirmed or suspected cases to seven.
Patients with confirmed monkeypox have also been recorded in the US, Spain and Portugal, while Canada is probing potential cases.
The outbreak has been described as 'unusual' by experts because person-to-person transmission of monkeypox was thought to be extremely rare.
Until now the virus had only ever been detected in four countries outside of western or central Africa, and all of the cases had direct travel links to the continent.
'One person in the Stockholm region has been confirmed to be infected with monkeypox,' Sweden's Public Health Agency said in a statement.
The infected person 'is not seriously ill, but has been given care,' according to the agency.
'We still don't know where the person was infected. An investigation is currently underway,' Klara Sonden, an infectious disease doctor and investigator at the agency, said in a statement.
The health authority is now 'investigating with the regional infection control centres whether there are more cases in Sweden,' it said.
Italy's patient was holidaying in the Canary Islands and is now in isolation at the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, the hospital said.
Another two other suspected cases are being monitored, it added.
The WHO has warned it expects more cases in more countries in the coming weeks.
Six of the UK's nine cases are based in London, with two in the South East of England and one in the North East.
All but one of the UK patients — the first, who flew in from Nigeria — appear to have got infected in the UK, and most are not connected.
The US reported its first monkeypox case overnight, in a man from Massachusetts who had recently returned from Canada.
At least thirteen probable cases are being investigated in Canada, with tests being carried out to confirm the virus.
Seven people have been diagnosed in Spain and dozens more are being monitored and tested for the disease. Portugal said nine cases have been
