(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced Thursday that they have confirmed the first probable case of the monkeypox virus in Illinois.
The patient is an adult male from Chicago who recently had traveled to Europe. Health officials said he is doing well and right now monkeypox poses little risk to the general public.
This case is still considered probable because confirmatory testing at the CDC is still pending. However, the IDPH has identified what they call “initial epidemiologic characteristics and the positive orthopoxvirus result “ that is seen with monkeypox.
The CPDH, IDPH, and the CDC are currently conducting contact tracing while the patient remains isolated at his home. Health Officials insist that monkeypox cases are still rare and they don’t believe there is a high risk of severe spread, reasoning that it does not spread as easily as the COVID-19 virus. The leading state public health doctors say that transmission occurs through “close physical contact with body fluids, monkeypox spores, items that have been contaminated with fluids or sores (clothing, bedding, etc.), or through respiratory droplets following prolonged face-to-face contact.”
Although monkeypox is rare, state and Chicago health officials want to remind residents that it can still result in serious illness, beginning with “flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph-nodes, and progresses to a rash on the face and body.” The IDPH AND CDPH say most monkeypox cases last 2 to 4 weeks.
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