A Nottingham professor has offered reassurance as Monkeypox continues to spread across the UK and Europe. Jonathan Ball, professor of virology at the University of Nottingham, described the spread as "unusual" but said it was very unlikely to be "Covid-like".
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is urgently looking for the source of the Monkeypox outbreak, which has seen more than 20 fall ill with the disease over the past month in the UK.
"This outbreak is unusual both in scale and in potential common transmission route," Professor Ball wrote on Twitter on Friday, May 20. "But this is very unlikely to be Covid-like because: a. We already have effective vaccines, we used them to eradicate smallpox."
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He added one possible reason for the increased outbreaks in Africa is because of dwindling herd immunity since the vaccination stopped. Professor Ball said it was also possible to use the vaccine once someone has been exposed.
"c. We won't see major changes/variants because it's a DNA virus and evolves far more slowly," he continued. "d. The incubation period is about two weeks giving infection control (track and trace) specialists far longer to contact trace and isolate, making it easier to control."
Professor Ball did, however, give a warning to more developed countries, saying diseases such as Monkeypox will "crop up here" if interventions are not made in Central and West Africa.
