According to the UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA), only 18%, or 34 out of 190, confirmed monkeypox cases in the United Kingdom have been linked to travel.
The history of foreign travel has also been seen in many different countries of Europe.
So far, the UKHSA has identified links to the use of gay bars, saunas and dating apps in the UK and abroad.
“The investigation is ongoing but at present no single factor or risk has been identified linking the cases,” the agency cautioned.
cases of monkeypox continues to grow outside Africa, where the pathogen is endemic.
WHO on monkeypox
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said it had received reports of more than 550 confirmed cases of the viral disease from 30 countries outside Africa since the first report in early May.
Rosamund Lewis, the UN health agency’s top monkeypox expert, said the presence of so many cases in Europe and other countries “is clearly a cause for concern, and it suggests undetected transmission for some time”.
“The investigation is ongoing, but at the same time the sudden appearance of monkeypox in several countries suggests that it has been undetected for some time,” the WHO said.
Monkeypox is related to smallpox, which killed millions of people around the world each year before its eradication in 1980.
However, the UN health body also reported that monkeypox, which is spread by close contact, is much less severe, usually involving a high fever and a blistering chickenpox-like rash that clears after a few weeks.
So far, most cases have been reported in men who have sex with men, although experts say there is no evidence that monkeypox is sexually transmitted.
“Anyone can be infected with monkeypox if they have close physical contact with another person who is infected,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He urged everyone to “help fight stigma, which is not only wrong, it can also prevent infected individuals from receiving care, making it harder to stop transmission.”
The WHO is also “urging affected countries to increase their surveillance”, he added.
Vaccines developed for smallpox have been found to be about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, but their supply is short.
WHO is not proposing mass vaccination, but rather targeted use in certain settings to protect health workers and those at risk of infection.