A patient diagnosed with monkeypox has been admitted to the infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free Hospital.

The unit is run by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure our staff can safely treat a patient with this kind of infection.

Monkeypox is a viral infection usually associated with travel to West Africa. It is usually a mild self-limiting illness, spread by very close contact with an infected person and most people recover within a few weeks. The virus does not spread easily between people and the risk to the UK population is low.