What is monkeypox - symptoms of virus spread by wild animals after UK case found

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A monkeypox case is being treated in London after a person was diagnosed with the virus following a flight into the UK.The patient recently travelled to Nigeria where it is believed they caught the infection, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement on May 7.Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that doesn't easily spread between people and the UKHSA describes it as a 'self-limiting' illness from which most people recover within a few weeks, although severe illness can occur.Monkeypox's symptoms can be confused with chickenpox due to the spots it causes that turn into small blisters filled with fluid, Wales Online reports.To understand more about the virus, we've covered what monkeypox is here - including its symptoms, how you can get it and how to avoid catching it.The rare infection is usually spread by infected wild animals in parts of west and central Africa, such as rats, mice and squirrels.Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.A rash - sometimes confused with chickenpox - usually appears one to five days after initial symptoms.It often begins on the face, starting as raised spots, which turn into small blisters filled with fluid which eventually form scabs that later fall off.Yesterday, speaking of the latest case, Dr Nicholas Price, Director NHSE High Consequence Infectious Diseases (airborne) Network and Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Guy's and St Thomas', said: "The patient is being treated in our specialist isolation unit at St Thomas' Hospital by expert clinical staff with strict infection prevention procedures."This is a good example of the way that the High Consequence Infectious Diseases national network and UKHSA