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Dr Claire Dewsnap, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said clinic staff were “already under significant pressure” prior to the outbreak, which reached 20 confirmed cases in the UK yesterday. She said: “It is already stretching the workforce and will have a massive impact if staff have to isolate after being in close contact with someone who’s infected.

“In terms of the infection and its consequences for individuals, I’m not that concerned.

“But I am concerned about our ability to maintain good sexual health services and access for everyone, while still managing this new infection.”

The disease, which was first found in monkeys, can be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse. Nine other countries outside of Central and West Africa are also reporting outbreaks.

Professor Sir Peter Horby, director of the Pandemic Sciences Institute at Oxford University, said: “The important thing is that we interrupt transmission and this doesn’t become established in the human population in Europe.”

Sir Peter added: “It’s transmitted by close personto-person contact and, in the past, we have not seen it being very infectious.

“It would appear that there is some element of sexual transmission, perhaps with just the very close contact between people and the skin lesions, because a large proportion of the current cases are being detected in gay and bisexual men.

“It’s very important that if people have unusual skin lesions they seek attention quickly so that we can control this.”

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