Britain has seen daily infections of the rare monkeypox virus with the World Health Organization expecting to identify more cases of monkeypox as it strengthens surveillance in several countries.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said new figures would be released on Monday after it registered 20 cases on Friday.
The UKHSA chief medical adviser, Susan Hopkins, said the community transmission was now the norm.
“We are finding cases that have no identified contact with an individual from West Africa, which is what we’ve seen previously in this country,” she told BBC television. “We are detecting more cases on a daily basis.”
Hopkins declined to confirm reports of an individual in intensive care. She said the outbreak was concentrated in urban areas, among gay or bisexual men.
“The risk of the general population remains extremely low at the moment, and I think people need to be alert to it,” she said.
