MULTIPLE scientists and studies have warned about the monkeypox virus for years as the alarm was first raised in 2018.
A British scientist at a level four biosecurity lab – Porton Down, which works with smallpox-like viruses – first warned about its epidemic-causing potential four years ago.
They warned how the emergence of monkeypox could have ‘potentially devastating consequences‘ for the majority of the world’s population.
Here are the five crucial warnings that were missed:
- September 2018: Porton Down scientist warns of potential ‘devastating consequences’ of monkeypox
- June 2019: A coalition of experts met at Chatham House in London to discuss how monkeypox ‘might fill the epidemiological niche vacated by smallpox‘. They warned 70% of world is vulnerable to monkeypox
- September 2020: Two years ago, a paper published by the WHO warned the ‘epidemic potential’ of monkeypox was increasing.
- November 2021: Monkeypox pandemic model warns virus could kill 300million in about 18 months.
- February 2022: Scientists say monkeypox is a disease in ‘resurgence’ in a research review in the Neglected Tropical Diseases journal. It was published just a few months before the current outbreak.
SEVERE monkeypox patients may be infectious for up to ten weeks, scientists fear.
An investigation of previous patients who had the disease found one man tested positive more than 70 days after he first showed symptoms.
It comes as cases of the virus reach 71 in the UK, and health officials have urged people to stay alert to symptoms.
Signs of the disease in the early stages include fever, headache, chills, back and muscle aches.
Patients are contagious until their scabs fall off, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) says, and the scabs themselves can contain viral material.
However, the latest study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggests people may be infectious long after their rash has settled.
Study author Dr Hugh Adler, from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: “It remains positive in the throat and blood for the length of the illness and maybe even longer after the rash is resolved.
“We don’t know that this means these patients are more infectious or infectious for longer, but it does inform us of the biology of disease.”
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