The U.K. Health Security Agency on Monday advised people who have monkeypox to avoid sexual activity while they are symptomatic.
The guidance was released by the British government and reported by The Hill.
"People with possible, probable or confirmed monkeypox should avoid contact with other people until their lesions have healed and the scabs have dried off," the agency advised. "Cases should also abstain from sex while symptomatic, including the period of early symptom onset, and while lesions are present."
The agency did note that currently there is "no available evidence of monkeypox in genital excretions," but still urged persons with monkeypox to use condoms for eight weeks after an infection as a "precaution."
Though bodily fluids have been named as one way monkeypox can be spread, it can also be spread through prolonged skin-to-skin contact and through living in confined quarters with another person who has it for a long period.
Someone who has monkeypox is considered to be no longer contagious once the lesions on their skin have scabbed over and healed.
Many of the first cases in Europe were found among men who had had sex with other men and were believed to be linked to raves in Spain and Belgium, The Hill noted.
Contact with a person's clothing on bedding can also spread monkeypox, but standard washing greatly reduces risk of infection.
There have been 71 additional cases of monkeypox identified in England, the U.K. Health Security Agency said on Monday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the United Kingdom as a whole since May 7 to 179.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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