The California Department of Public Health said Tuesday that it is investigating the first suspected case of monkeypox in the state from a Sacramento County resident who had recently traveled abroad.
State officials investigating the case with Sacramento County health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient is in isolation, and they are notifying people who were in close contact with the person.
“The risk of monkeypox in the general population is very low,” California State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said in a statement Tuesday.
The CDC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health have announced that a US resident tested positive for monkeypox on May 18 after returning to the US from Canada. The CDC is tracking clusters of monkeypox reported this month in European countries that rarely see the disease.
It’s not clear how people in those groups came into contact with the virus, but the CDC said the cases include people who identify as men who have sex with men.
Sacramento County and state health officials began screening a California patient for possible monkeypox infection on May 21, and said the man tested “preliminarily positive for orthopox virus,” the family of viruses that also includes smallpox and smallpox. Are included. State officials said confirmation of monkeypox is pending for CDC testing.
The CDC said the symptoms of monkeypox in humans are similar to smallpox but mild, beginning with fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue, followed by a rash on the face and spreading to other parts of the body. The CDC said the illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks, and has proved fatal in one in 10 cases in Africa.
State and federal health authorities are urging healthcare providers in the US to look for patients who have had a rash with monkeypox, especially if they have traveled to an area where monkeypox has been reported or someone who has who is suspected of having monkeypox. ,
The CDC warns of a potentially increased risk of exposure to men who self-identify as men who have sex with men.
Because monkeypox is rare, state health officials said health care providers may not be familiar with its symptoms or consider the possibility of monkeypox transmission during intimate or sexual contact, Pan said. The state public health laboratory in Richmond is ready to receive samples from individuals with suspected monkeypox for preliminary testing for diagnosis.
According to the CDC, monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 after two outbreaks of smallpox-like disease in research monkeys. The first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during an effort to eradicate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people from several other Central and West African countries.
Cases of monkeypox in people have been linked to international travel outside Africa or imported animals, including those in the United States, as well as cases in Israel, Singapore and the United Kingdom. It is believed that African rodents, monkeys or apes may harbor the virus and infect people.
