Britain has recorded 14 new cases of monkeypox, bringing the UK’s total to 71.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that the UK has so far reported 70 cases and one has been confirmed in Scotland.
No cases have been reported in Wales or Northern Ireland to date.
UKHSA added that, although additional cases were detected, the risk to the UK population remained low.
It explained that a “remarkable proportion” of the cases identified were in people who identified as gay or bisexual or men who had sex with men.
However, anyone with an “unusual rash or lesions” should immediately contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, thanked people for coming up with symptoms and said the agency was continuing to “timely identify” cases.
UKHSA recommends that people who have been in contact with cases of monkeypox at high risk of infection should self-isolate for 21 days.
This does not include travel, provides details for contact tracing and avoids direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12 years of age.
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It is also advised that they be offered a smallpox vaccine.
Transmission of the virus from an infected person is rare, but transmission can occur through close physical contact.
This includes having sex, touching clothing, bedding, towels, or other items used by the person with the rash.
Have other countries reported cases of monkeypox?
Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed a total of 131 confirmed cases of monkeypox has been recorded in 19 countries.
It is not clear whether the most up-to-date UK figures are included in the WHO report.
Dr David Heymann, who chairs a WHO expert panel, described the unprecedented outbreak in Europe as “a random event” that could be spread sexually between gay men and bisexual at two parties in Spain and Belgium.
Read more:
What do we know about the UK’s largest ever monkeypox outbreak?
Monkeypox is ‘particularly nasty’ – but we’re not sure we’ll see anything on the COVID scale
In Denmark, it was announced that the vaccine would be made available to close contacts of people infected with the virus – a move that has also been taken by the UK.
Meanwhile, 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine have been ordered in Germany as a preventive measure.
“If the infection is to spread further, we would want to be prepared for a round of vaccination that may not be recommended, at
this point, but may become necessary,” said German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
Also on Tuesday, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all recorded their first confirmed cases of the virus.
