The World Health Organisation has warned about the monkeypox outbreak as Europe confirmed over 200 cases. 

The UK first reported a confirmed monkeypox case on 7 May.

Since then other European countries including Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and France have confirmed cases of monkeypox. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has put the number of such cases at 219.

All the confirmed cases are in men, mainly aged below 40.

“We don’t know if we are just seeing the peak of the iceberg [or] if there are many more cases that are undetected in communities,” Sylvie Briand, WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention chief said on Friday. 

She added: “We are still at the very, very beginning of this event. We know that we will have more cases in the coming days.

“This is not a disease the general public should be worried about. It is not Covid or other diseases that spread fast.”

Monkeypox is related to smallpox, a deadly disease that was eradicated in 1980. But monkeypox is much less severe, with a fatality ratio of 3-6%. Most people recover within three to four weeks.

The initial symptoms include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and chickenpox-like rash.