Monkeypox is a rare infection that typically manifests as a rash, which develops into fluid-filled blisters. The rash is often preceded by symptoms such as a high temperature, headaches, muscle aches, backaches, swollen glands, shivering, and/or exhaustion.

It usually takes between five and 21 days for the first symptom to appear after infection.

Monkeypox in the UK

Monkeypox is typically found in Africa, but more than 130 cases have now been discovered in 19 countries outside of the continent, cropping up in Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia.

There are now 71 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the UK – 70 in England and one in Scotland, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Last week, on May 16, there were just seven confirmed cases in the UK.

According to news outlet i, the recent outbreak is the first time person-to-person transmission of monkeypox has occurred in the UK.

But officials have assured that while the number of cases is “unusual,” the illness is usually mild, clearing up in two to four weeks.

The government has ordered more than 20,000 vaccine doses as a precaution, i reports.

How do you catch monkeypox?

Monkeypox is predominantly spread by wild animals – namely rats, mice, and squirrels – in west and central Africa. A human can catch the disease if they are bitten by an infected animal, or if they come into contact with infected blood, body fluids, blisters, or scabs.

You can also catch monkeypox by eating undercooked meat from an infected animal, according to the NHS, or by handling infected “products” like animal skin and fur.

Touching clothing, bedding, or towels used by anyone with the monkeypox rash also raises the risk of infection. The coughs and sneezes of an infected individual can spread the disease too.

How to avoid getting monkeypox

To lower the risk of contracting monkeypox, the NHS advises people to “only eat meat that has been cooked thoroughly.” Individuals should also not eat or touch bushmeat (the flesh of wild animals).

Washing your hands regularly with soap and water, or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, can also protect against the infection.

The NHS has urged people to stay away from wild or stray animals, animals that look unwell, and dead animals.

Additionally, the organization stresses the importance of maintaining distance from people who are unwell and may have monkeypox, including not sharing bedding or towels.

Those who have monkeypox are advised to self-isolate, and stay away from pets.

Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for the UKHSA, said: “If anyone suspects they might have rashes or lesions on any part of their body, particularly if they have recently had a new sexual partner, they should limit their contact with others and contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service as soon as possible, though please phone ahead before attending in person.”

Visit the NHS website for more information.

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All will be killed, but the total death toll will now stretch into the thousands.

Hamsters killed at Hong Kong pet shop

Around 2,000 other hamsters and small mammals from the store will be culled in a bid to halt the spread.

And anyone who purchased an animal from the shop within the past four weeks is ordered to hand their pet in to be killed.

According to the BBC, authorities announced the news last week after an employee at the Little Boss shop received a positive test for the Delta variant. This prompted the testing of hundreds of animals that were being kept there.

It is understood the animals contracted the virus from the worker.

Infected animals across 34 shops are to be killed as a “preventative measure.” Officials add that the animals will be killed “humanely.”

At a press conference, the director of Hong Kong’s agriculture department Leung Siu-fai called for pet owners to implore a “good hygiene practice.”

This includes washing hands after touching animals or handling their food. And, to avoid kissing them.

Thousands call for hamsters to be saved

Amid the ongoing situation, a petition has gathered wind to try and save the hamsters. At the time of writing, more than 36,100 people are calling on the government to stop the “wrongful” euthanasia.

“Every pet owner knows that their pet’s lives are just as important as their own.

“Yet, the Hong Kong government fails to see that they, the very upholders of the law, are on the dangerous path to the murders of many lives that are barely any different to ours,” it reads.

It goes on: “Just like humans, these pets could be quarantined and isolated rather than killed off mercilessly. Yet, authorities insisted on trading over 2000 lives for the sake of ‘public health needs’.”

You can sign the petition here

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Despite the cranes being migratory, it’s understood they caught the disease from a swarm of bird farms.

Bird flu in Israel

The disaster is being branded the “most serious damage to wildlife” in the country’s history. This is according to environmental protection minister Tamar Zandberg, The Guardian reports.

Hula Lake Park is the location where the crane population is mainly based.

Here, thousands of the species pass through year on year as they voyage to Africa.

But as of this week, government officials were seen in hazmat suits scrambling to dispose of the carcasses as quickly as possible to contain the disease.

And around the area, half a million chickens are being slaughtered. An agriculture ministry spokesperson confirmed the birds are being culled to prevent the disease from spreading.

Now, the environment and health ministries are monitoring the outbreak.

Global outbreaks

Other countries around the world have been on high alert as severe bird flu cases cropped up in China, Japan, Norway, Belgium, and the UK this winter.

In fact, the UK is currently witnessing its “largest-ever” outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain. Government officials voiced concerns as the virus swept through turkey, chicken, duck, geese, and swan populations.

Scientists and animal rights campaigners alike maintain the easiest way to curb the virus is by dismantling factory farming for good.

This is because bird flu, like many zoonotic diseases, can spread easily when animals are kept in cramped conditions.

As Juliet Gellatley of vegan charity Viva! explains: “It is human commercial activities, particularly those associated with poultry, that are the major factors responsible for the global spread of bird flu.”

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The country has reportedly informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of 21 H5N6 human cases this year. And while the figures are lower than the hundreds of people infected with another strain – H7N9 – five years ago, the infections are ‘serious’, says Reuters.

Many are critically ill, and at least six are dead, the outlet reports.

China bird flu outbreak

Thijs Kuiken is a professor of comparative pathology at Erasmus University Medical Centre. They told the outlet: “The increase in human cases in China this year is of concern. It’s a virus that causes high mortality.”

Moreover, the H5N6 has a mortality rate of just 65 percent, according to WHO.

Following the outbreak, WHO has called on China to ‘urgently’ increase surveillance. A spokesperson told Reuters that this is vital in understanding the recent increase in human infections.

Currently, The Chinese Center for Disease Control is tracking the rise, warning that it poses a ‘serious threat’ to both human health – and the poultry industry.

It follows reports of a case in June, where a man caught the H10N3 strain for the first time.

How do humans catch bird flu?

Like many zoonotic diseases, bird flu is widely understood to have originated in live-poultry markets. Here, live animals are kept alongside dead animals.

It first jumped to humans in 1997, when 18 people in Hong Kong became infected.

Since then, 868 human causes of multiple strains have been reported – leaving 455 dead.

Leading vegan charity Viva! says one way to ‘take control’ of bird flu is by: “People stopping eating poultry, pigs and other animals and remove the viral reservoir of factory-farms.”

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British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has warned the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic could divert our attention away from action against climate change.

The Veteran, whose film A Life On Our Planet has been postponed until November because of the crisis, is said to be ‘washing his hands and observing social distance guidelines’.

‘Short term problem’

According to the Mirror, Attenborough said: “There have always been plagues. There are diseases. That is part of the natural world and tightly packed as we are and travel as we do, it is hardly surprising it spreads.

“We have a short term problem with coronavirus so we quarantine and do this or that. The consequence is, nobody takes any action on the climate at all if we are not careful.

“The environmental crisis is coming to a very critical point where politicians need convincing by the electorate that the electorate are serious.”

‘Set back efforts’

TV presenter and vegan advocate Chris Packham has also spoken out about how the COVID 19 outbreak could ‘set back climate change efforts’.

The environmentalist said the current pandemic will impact many things, including the ‘natural world’, and stressed that ‘climate change isn’t going away’. 

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SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the current covid 19 pandemic, could be a ‘threat’ to great ape populations, including orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, according to research from the journal Nature.

Scientists have therefore urged governments, conservation practitioners, researchers, tourism professionals, and funding agencies to ‘reduce the risk of introducing the virus into these endangered apes’ .

There are no great apes are reported to have contracted the virus. However, experts say ‘transmission of even mild human pathogens to apes can lead to moderate-to-severe outcomes’.

‘Risk assessments’

“In the present situation, we recommend that great-ape tourism be suspended and field research reduced, subject to risk assessments to maximize conservation outcomes (for example, poaching could rise with fewer people in the vicinity)” the journal’s abstract reads.

“Such efforts should include ways to offset the loss of earnings from tourism while taking care not to interfere with work to save human lives.”

‘Critical situation

According to the Guardian, researcher Thomas Gillespie said: “The Covid-19 pandemic is a critical situation for humans, our health and our economies. It’s also a potentially dire situation for great apes. There is a lot at stake for those in danger of extinction.

“People who are younger, who may be less at risk for severe illness from Covid-19, are the ones who are more likely to be hiking into the national parks of Africa and Asia to see great apes in the wild.

“It would be extremely difficult to monitor whether they were infected with Covid-19 since they may not have obvious symptoms.”

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Pangolins can carry Coronaviruses related to the current Covid 19 pandemic, according to new research published in the journal Nature.

The early version of the manuscript, which is yet to be proof reviewed before being published in its final form, states the ‘discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible hosts in the emergence of novel coronaviruses’.

It also argues pangolins, which are the most-commonly illegally trafficked mammal, should therefore be ‘removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission’.

‘Strictly prohibited’

According to National Geographic, Conservation Biologist and Co-Founder of Save Pangolins said: “If there is one clear message from this global crisis, it’s that the sale and consumption of pangolins in [live animal] markets should be strictly prohibited to avoid future pandemics.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) is already under pressure to close live animal markets from animal-rights charity PETA – who has already gained more than 39,000 signatures in an online petition.

PETA created the petition as it is believed Covid 19 started in a wet market in Wuhan, China*, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread to countries around the world, killing more than 24,000 at the time of writing. 

*While this particular virus is understood to have started in China, animal advocates have pointed out that conditions in which animals are kept in all countries around the world can encourage the transmission of diseases from animals to humans.

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Occurrences

PDCoV –
which mimics the deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus in its
ability to jump between species – was first detected in China in 2012.

Later, a
major outbreak occurred in Iowa where piglets suffered ‘acute severe diarrhea’.

The virus
has since been detected in a number of other states, Canada, South Korea,
Thailand, and China.

Interspecies

Research
has shown that the virus can indeed jump between species, with lab tests
indicating it has the potential to infect cats, chickens, and humans – although
no humans have been infected as yet.

Linda Saif
of Ohio State’s Food Animal Health Research Program said: “We’re very
concerned about emerging coronaviruses and worry about the harm they can do to
animals and their potential to jump to humans.”

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