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Britain’s monkeypox cases are linked to gay bars: UKHSA

Shkoi Kurdistan-

Britain’s monkeypox cases are linked to gay bars, saunas and dating apps, health chiefs revealed as the cumulative number of cases in the UK nears 200.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said more than 60 per cent of domestic infections have been among gay and bisexual men, with more than 86 per cent based in the epicentre London. Only two cases have been women. 

Most of the country’s infections — 87 per cent — were among people aged 20 to 49. And 111 cases are known to be men who have sex with men. 

Most of the UK patients caught the virus in the UK rather than abroad, which is significant because previously the tropical disease was confined to a small number of people with travel links to Africa.

Officials said that contact tracing teams had linked the outbreak back to ‘gay bars, saunas and the use of dating apps in the UK and abroad’. MailOnline revealed last week the world’s biggest gay dating app Grindr had alerted to users of monkeypox symptoms.

It comes as the UKHSA today confirmed another six infections, bringing the nation’s total since the outbreak began on May 6 to 196. Five of the infections were logged in England, while one was spotted in Scotland.

In total, there have been 617 confirmed cases of monkeypox across the globe, with 129 more suspected since the first infection was found at the start of May. Behind the UK, Spain (133), Portugal (100) and Germany (38) have logged the next highest number of confirmed cases. 

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