UAE confirms four new cases of monkeypox taking total to eight

Officials urge caution as new cases treated

A man's hands are covered in a rash caused by the monkeypox virus that swept through the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1996 to 1997. Reuters

An image taken during an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1996 and 1997 shows the arms and torso of a patient with skin lesions due to monkeypox. Reuters

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows a monkeypox virion, obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. AP

Images issued by the UK Health Security Agency show the stages of monkeypox. UK Health Security Agency

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a single case of monkeypox in an adult male who had recently travelled to Canada. EPA

Roman Woelfel, head of the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces in Munich, gets to work after Germany detected its first case of monkeypox. Reuters

Four new cases of the monkeypox virus were confirmed by the UAE government on Wednesday, taking the total to eight.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said cases were detected by "early monitoring and investigation" of the disease.

In recent weeks it urged all hospitals and clinics to be on alert for symptoms, which include sores and lesions on the skin.

Since the outbreak was first reported, more than 550 cases have been confirmed in about 30 countries.

"Monkeypox is a contagious viral disease, but the ways it is spread are limited compared to the Covid-19 virus," a statement on state news agency Wam said.

"The most prominent ways of transmission of infection from one person to another are through contact with body fluids and respiratory droplets, contact with skin lesions of an infected person, and contact with contaminated surfaces."

The Emirates confirmed its first infection, in a 29-year-old woman from a West African country, about 10 days ago.

Confirmed cases will be treated in complete isolation in hospitals until they recover. Any close contact will quarantine at home for 21 days, with monitoring from UAE officials.

Global health experts do not believe will spread of monkeypox will be anywhere near the scale of Covid-19.

At least 530 million people were diagnosed with Covid-19, and more than six million died worldwide.

Symptoms

Most monkeypox patients experience fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands. The lesions can spread to other parts of the body.

In general, recovery takes about two to four weeks without the need to be admitted to hospital. However, monkeypox can be fatal in up to 6 per cent of cases and is believed to be more severe in children.

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and antiviral drugs are also being developed.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in about a dozen African countries every year.

Most are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which reports about 6,000 cases annually, and Nigeria, with about 3,000 cases a year.