UAE confirms four new cases of monkeypox taking total to eight

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.