UK designates monkeypox as a notifiable disease

FILE PHOTO: A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. CDC/Handout via REUTERS.

LONDON (Reuters) – The UK Health Security Agency said monkeypox would be designated as a notifiable infectious disease from Wednesday, meaning doctors in England will have to notify local authorities when they suspect a patient has the virus.

“Rapid diagnosis and reporting is the key to interrupting transmission and containing any further spread of Monkeypox,” Wendi Shepherd, Monkeypox incident director at UKHSA, said in a statement.

“This new legislation will support us and our health partners to swiftly identify, treat and control the disease.”

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