Monkeypox warning issued to US travellers by the CDC

Advice was updated after cases of the virus were reported in countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia

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  A man's hands are covered in a rash caused by the monkeypox virus that swept through the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1996 to 1997. Reuters

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  An image taken during an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1996 and 1997 shows the arms and torso of a patient with skin lesions due to monkeypox. Reuters

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  This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows a monkeypox virion, obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. AP

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  Images issued by the UK Health Security Agency show the stages of monkeypox. UK Health Security Agency

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  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a single case of monkeypox in an adult male who had recently travelled to Canada. EPA

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  Roman Woelfel, head of the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces in Munich, gets to work after Germany detected its first case of monkeypox. Reuters

US holidaymakers should practice caution when travelling in light of the monkeypox virus. This is the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the agency upgraded its monkeypox travel alert to Level 2, out of a maximum of three.

It comes after cases of the virus were reported in the US and in several countries in Europe and the Middle East, including France, the UAE and Israel, as well as in the UK, Australia and Canada.

The CDC said travellers should “practice enhance precautions” as the rare virus continues to spread.

The CDC says the risk of the monkeypox virus remains low but has updated travel advice to Level 2. Reuters / Dado Ruvic

People infected with monkeypox may experience fever, a headache, muscle ache and swollen lymph nodes, followed by a rash.

Travellers should avoid close contact with people who are sick, as well as wild animals, and should avoid eating meat from wild game or using products derived from wild animals from Africa, said the foundation.

The virus is spread through contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids, or through contact with contaminated materials, according to the World Health Organisation.

Despite the updated alert, the CDC said that risk to the general public is low. It advised anyone who is sick and could have monkeypox to delay travelling on public transportation until they’ve seen a doctor.

The virus is not new and has been seen for decades in parts of Central and West Africa.

An American resident who had returned to the US from Canada was the first positive case in the country. While it’s not the first time a US traveller has contracted the virus, it’s the first time the world has seen such a large person-to-person transmission.

On Friday, in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus, Belgium introduced a three-week quarantine period for anyone testing positive with monkeypox. Other countries, including the UK, have since issued similar instructions.