The Latest Breaking News from UKHSA

Contacts should now self-isolate for 21 days as more cases being detected 'on a daily basis'

The UK Health Security Agency recommends isolation for those who have had ‘unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact’.

Close contacts of monkeypox cases with a high risk of exposure should self-isolate for up to three weeks, according to new guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Guidance introduced in 2018, following the discovery of the UK's first monkeypox cases, state that contacts are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with those at risk urged to avoid the immunocompromised, children under 12 and pregnant women

The virus has swept through Europe in the past fortnight, with 20 cases confirmed in the UK and nine other countries confirming outbreaks

In recent weeks, the disease has been identified in several non-endemic countries in recent weeks, including Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Canada and the United States.

A UK health official says monkeypox is spreading between people.

"Monkeypox could fill the ecological niche left by smallpox" experts have warned

Twenty cases confirmed in UK amid reports of child being admitted to intensive care in London hospital

There have been 20 confirmed cases in the UK so far

Dr Susan Hopkins, of the UK Health Security Agency, said updated figures for the weekend will be released on Monday.