An outbreak of the rare monkeypox infection in United Kingdom and Europe has led to health authorities asking gay and bisexual men to watch out for symptoms, including for tell-tale skin lesions or rashes on any part of their body.
The number of cases in the UK rose to nine, while Portugal and Spain reported 20 suspected cases and 23 suspected cases respectively.
Many of the recent cases have been reported among gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men. UK health authorities said that the virus does not spread easily between people and the risk to the population remains low.
Monkeypox is a viral infection usually associated with travel to West Africa. It is spread by very close contact with an infected person.