A child under two has caught monkeypox with stunned health officials now keen to find out how it was transmitted.
Monkeypox’s rapid spread is a global threat with more than 3,000 Brits now having come down with the virus normally native to West Africa.
While anyone can pick up the virus, those at most threat are men in the gay community and a vaccine has been targeted at those most at risk.
The virus has also been spreading quickly in the United States and the state of Texas has now revealed that a toddler has tested positive.
So far it is unclear how the child, aged under two, has picked up monkeypox with the family having said that the child has not been attending nursery school or been mixing with other kids.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that the child was asymptomatic and was expected to make a complete recovery.
“We confirmed just yesterday that a child, a young child in our community is a presumptive positive for the monkeypox virus,” she told a press conference.
“I say a presumptive positive because all our cases are presumptive positives until we get complete confirmation from the CDCP (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But to put it into context we have not yet had a presumptive positive that has not then become a confirmed case.”
It is expected to be a week before it is completely confirmed and the child is asymptomatic apart from a rash.
Now health officials are trying to establish the “mode of transmission”.
Judge Hidalgo added: “This case in Harris County is one of only a handful of cases in young children nationwide. I understand that it’s a very scary thing and parents have concern.”
In the UK patients eligible for the smallpox vaccine used to combat monkeypox will be offered smaller doses as part of a pilot scheme amid constrained supplies.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said three NHS sites will begin administering "fractional doses" to stretch supplies and protect up to five times more people.
Under the approach, eligible people aged 18 and over will be offered a 0.1ml dose of the smallpox Jynneos vaccine, instead of the 0.5ml dose which is typically administered for monkeypox.
Clinical studies have shown the smaller doses provide a near-identical immune response in patients, according to the UKHSA and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), who reviewed the evidence jointly.
