More than 60 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported in Scotland since late May, according to the latest data.
Figures from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show that as of noon on Thursday there have been 61 cases north of the border since May 23.
It is an increase of two from the previous update on Tuesday.
The World Health Organisation declared the worldwide monkeypox outbreak a global emergency at the weekend.
READ MORE: Covid-19 infections in Scotland begin to fall after spike
PHS said: “The majority of cases are adults known to be gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men and report recent European travel within 21 days of symptom onset.
“Investigations continue but currently no single factor or exposure that links the cases has been identified.”
Last week the guidance for close contacts was updated and such individuals no longer need to isolate at home if they don’t have symptoms.
PHS said that monkeypox is generally a mild self-limiting illness, spread by very close contact with someone who is already infected and has symptoms.
Most people recover within a few weeks.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel