What is monkeypox, the rare virus that has turned up in the U.K.?

What is monkeypox, the rare virus that has turned up in the U.K.?

Here's what you need to know about the U.K.'s first cases of monkeypox

A MONKEYPOX VIRUS PARTICLE. (CDC)

A third patient in the U.K. has contracted monkeypox, a rare infection that cropped up in the country for the first time earlier this month. STAT’s Helen Branswell broke down what you need to know:

• What is monkeypox? It's caused by the monkeypox virus — a cousin of the now-eradicated virus that caused smallpox — and causes a rash that can scar. There is no cure. Most people recover, but some cases are fatal.
• Who was infected? The first case was reported on Sept. 8 in a man from Nigeria who had been at a U.K. naval base. A second imported case was spotted three days later in a man who had also recently been in Nigeria. Before he was diagnosed, a health worker was infected.
• How does it spread? Once a person is infected, he or she can pass it to other people, either through contact with skin lesions, objects contaminated by body fluids, or tiny drops of saliva, like how colds and flu spread.