Investigating the monkeypox outbreak

Abstract

Here’s what we know, and what we need to know Between 4 and 25 May, 221 confirmed (by reverse transcriptase PCR) and 86 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported from 23 countries in Europe plus Argentina, Australia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.1 Such a large number of cases has never previously been reported from so many countries outside Africa in just a few weeks. New cases are being reported daily; more can be expected and in more locations. Why the extraordinary surge now? What do we need to know to stop it? Almost all patients so far are male (three are female) and presented with symptoms typical of monkeypox, including fever, vesicular rash, skin lesions and ulcers, and swollen lymph nodes.2 The first case in this outbreak was a man who visited Nigeria from the UK.3 He developed a rash on 29 April before leaving Nigeria, arriving back in the UK on 4 May. He was immediately isolated at a London hospital on the same day. His contacts on the flight to the UK, together with others in the community plus healthcare staff, are being followed for 21 days, considered the upper limit of the incubation …