A sudden surge of monkeypox cases sparked concern and confusion in recent weeks as experts grapple to explain why the virus is spreading in the community outside Africa for the first time.
Public health workers are isolating people infected with the virus and locating their close contacts, isolating them for 21 days and offering smallpox vaccines. Most people over 50 are vaccinated, and they're effective against monkeypox due to the similarity of the two viruses. This is a strategy previously successful at containing monkeypox, which causes a rash, usually starting on the face before spreading to other parts of the body, according to the NHS.
Dr Hugh Adler, 34, was part of a team at Royal Liverpool Hospital who treated a case of monkeypox in 2018. Liverpool has one of five specialist units in the country with the isolation facilities and clinical expertise to handle what the government calls 'high consequence infectious diseases' (HCID), including monkeypox, ebola, SARS, avian flu, and pneumonic plague. The junior doctor said: "Being a specialist centre, it's something we prepare for, and we felt very well prepared for it. We were trained in terms of PPE and we had pretty well-rehearsed drills. It's always a learning curve, but we felt we were ready for it."
