British officials have told those suffering from monkeypox that they should abstain from sex in the hopes of curbing the spread of the disease.
Those showing symptoms of the monkeypox virus should avoid having sex with other people, government experts have advised those suffering from the disease.
The advice comes as officials confirm that an additional 71 cases of the rare disease were confirmed in the UK on Monday, with the current outbreak disproportionately affecting the country’s so-called “MSM” population, which stands for “men who have sex with men”.
According to the latest guidance agreed upon by all UK nations, those who are confirmed to have the disease should also make sure to use a condom for sex for eight weeks after infection, while so-called “high risk” close contacts of infected individuals have also been told that they should self-isolate for 21 days.
Pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised have also been told that they should avoid caring for someone with the disease if at all possible, with the WHO warning of the danger that the disease can lead to “congenital monkeypox” or stillbirths.
Can be Spread by ‘Clothes, Bedding or Sex Toys’: Gay Dating App Grindr Sends Monkeypox Virus Warning to Usershttps://t.co/AZKB84anAg
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 26, 2022
In total, 172 cases of the disease already endemic in a number of African countries have been confirmed in the UK, with it being believed that the current outbreak is the result of “risky sexual behaviour” amongst “gay and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium”.
This has led to a mobilisation of resources with the aim of informing homosexual men about the disease, with gay dating app Grindr going so far as to send out general warning messages to its European user base regarding the outbreak.
While the disease currently has no cure, cases more often than not are mild and usually resolve themselves between 6 to 13 days, according to published expert advice.
However, with more acute cases also being possible, some experts are reportedly concerned about the possibility of the disease spreading to animals, such as household pets.
Some have even gone so far as to say that pet hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs of those infected should either be isolated or killed for fear that the rodents could be used by the virus to gain a permanent foothold in the northern hemisphere.
“Rodent pets should ideally be isolated in monitored facilities, complying with respiratory isolation (e.g. a laboratory) and animal welfare conditions (e.g. government facilities, kennels or animal welfare organisations), and tested (by PCR) for exposure before quarantine ends,” The Telegraph reports EU health officials as saying.
“Euthanasia should only be a last resort reserved to situations where testing and/or isolation are not feasible,” they continued.
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