Monkeypox has been updated in the same category as diseases such as plague and leprosy, and doctors must notify health authorities in each case.
Starting Wednesday, it will be a legal requirement for doctors to report to their local council or health care team if they suspect a patient has the virus, while labs must report to the UK Health Safety Agency. United Kingdom (UKHSA) if a sample is positive.
The measure raises the monkey’s smallpox to the same legal status as 33 other diseases, such as leprosy, malaria, rabies, plague and yellow fever, which are designated as “notification” according to the protection regulations of the health of the United Kingdom.
Covid-19 became a notifiable disease on March 5, 2020, before the UK went into blockade. But Dr. Meaghan Kall, a UKHSA epidemiologist, said the latest move “has nothing to do with [disease control] measures “and should not be construed as a precursor to coronavirus-like restrictions.
“It just means that doctors and labs have a legal requirement to report cases,” he told The Telegraph. “We need to monitor cases for surveillance and [epidemiological] purposes. ”
The change also means that all foreign visitors diagnosed or treated for monkeypox will be free of charge.
“This is important, as the cost of accessing NHS testing and treatment can be a major barrier and prevent people from showing up, increasing the risk of transmission,” Dr Kall added.
It comes amid growing concerns about the global spread of monkeypox outside West and Central Africa, where the disease is endemic. Since the beginning of May, more than 1,100 confirmed and suspected infections have been detected in 40 countries, including 302 in the United Kingdom.