NEW YORK – New York State now has nine confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the state health departmentincluding the first case to be found outside of New York City.
The number of cases in New York City rose to eight on Tuesday, the New York State Department of Health announced. The other case of monkeypox was found in Sullivan County.
As of Monday, 1,019 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported in 29 countries, according to the CDC. The UK has recorded the most cases by far, with 302 suspected and confirmed infections. Spain follows with 198, Portugal with 153 and Canada with 80.
In the US, there were 30 confirmed cases in 13 states as of Monday night, according to the CDC.
Also Monday, the CDC raised its monkeypox alert to level 2 and encouraged people to “practice heightened precautions” to stop the recent outbreak. That’s one step below the CDC’s recommendation for people to “avoid non-essential travel.”
Although the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, the new alert level encourages avoiding close contact with sick people, including those with skin or genital lesions, as well as sick or dead animals. Those showing symptoms, such as rashes or unexplained lesions, are also urged to avoid contact with others and to contact healthcare providers for guidance.
Two leading infectious disease experts warned over the weekend that time was of the essence to stop the spread of the virus and “the window is closing” to contain it before it becomes endemic. That came just days after the World Health Organization said it did not know if the outbreak was “too late to contain.”
In a sign that the situation may be further along than first understood, the CDC said Friday that there appear to be two separate and distinct outbreaks outside of Africa, with some virus samples seen in the United States that are distinct from the samples seen in the European outbreak.
How is monkeypox spread?
The vast majority of cases in the US are in men who have sex with men, and international travel has been reported by many patients. So far, only one confirmed case has an unknown origin. The CDC noted that all patients across the country are recovering or have already recovered.
Agency officials, in a briefing with reporters Friday, stressed that the public health risk remains low, vaccine stockpiles are ample for now, and that it was “too early to tell” whether the virus would become endemic in the United States.
The agency is asking doctors to test more aggressively for monkeypox, even if they think a patient has symptoms of another sexually transmitted disease.
“They should get tested for monkeypox even if they think they might test positive for a much more common STI,” Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of High-Consequence Pathology and Pathogens, said on a call with reporters. .
Of the first 17 confirmed cases, all 17 had rashes and most had fatigue or chills. Most had rashes on the arm or chest, although many other spots were affected as well.
‘The window to eliminate monkeypox is closing’
As the virus spreads, those with experience in the history of infectious diseases warn that time is of the essence to contain it.
“The window is CLOSING. If we can’t contain now, it means a lot more work later. Once again, #LGBTQ groups don’t seem to see the urgency of the moment, rightly concerned about the stigma, but not interested in pulling to take care of this outbreak ourselves,” Yale epidemiologist and AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves tweeted Saturday morning.
His peers agreed, calling on the LGBTQ community to make a more aggressive effort to combat the spread.
“The window to eliminate monkeypox is closing. LGBTQ groups could use #GayPrideMonth #gaypride2022 events to educate, test and vaccinate…before it’s too late,” tweeted Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at NYU. and former COVID advisor to the Biden Administration, in response to Gonsalves.
Some local governments are taking matters into their own hands. On Monday, public health officials in Montreal began offering vaccines to people who had been exposed to someone with monkeypox and to men who have sex with men who have had at least two partners in the past 14 days.
In the United States, the federal Department of Health and Human Services ordered another 36,000 doses of vaccine from its manufacturer to be transferred to a national stockpile.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958, when outbreaks occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, giving rise to its name. (What you need to know about monkeypox).
The first human case was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which still has the majority of infections. Other African countries where it has been found: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.
Human symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than smallpox symptoms, the CDC says. It presents as a flu-like illness accompanied by swollen lymph nodes and a rash on the face and body.
Monkeypox begins with a fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. Monkeypox also causes the lymph nodes to swell, something that smallpox does not. The incubation period is usually 7 to 14 days, but can range from 5 to 21 days.
Cases reported outside of Africa have generally been linked to international travel or animals that have been imported.
The CDC urges healthcare providers in the US to be vigilant for patients who have monkeypox-like rashes, regardless of whether they have traveled or are at specific risk for monkeypox. See more information about the travel advisory here.
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