With more than 30 monkeypox cases in the U.S., the country is at a Level 2 travel alert for the disease and travelers are advised to avoid contact with sick people and contaminated materials or food. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention recommend that those who have the virus wear masks.
“Persons with monkeypox should wear a surgical mask, especially those who have respiratory symptoms,” said CDC guidance for healthcare professionals as of this week. “If this is not feasible (e.g., a child with monkeypox), other household members should consider wearing a surgical mask when in the presence of the person with monkeypox.”
Prior to the recent global outbreak of cases identified by the World Health Organization last month, monkeypox was mainly found in West African countries where it is endemic. According to the CDC, it was first found in monkeys in the late 1950s and later diagnosed in humans in the 1970s.
Monkeypox is caused by a virus and has symptoms that are similar to but milder than smallpox.
Onset of the illness can begin with a fever, headache, backache, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes. Around one to three days after patients have a fever, they develop a rash that often begins on the face and spreads throughout the body. Rash lesions go through the following stages before falling off: macules, papules, vesicles, pustules and scabs.
People with monkeypox are usually sick for two to four weeks and in Africa, monkeypox has been shown to cause death in as many as one in 10 persons who contract the disease, according to the CDC.
Monkeypox can spread by: coming in contact with an infected animal or person, handling wild game, using products made from infected animals, respiratory secretions expelled during prolonged face-to-face contact, direct contact with bodily fluids or sores, direct contact with materials that have touched fluids or sores and it can be passed from mother to fetus through placenta.
Although it is not clear whether the disease is spread through semen or vaginal fluids, the CDC said it can be transmitted during sex due to sores and other bodily secretions being infectious. Many men who have sex with men have been diagnosed with the disease during the current outbreak, but public health officials urge anyone who develops possible symptoms to seek treatment, as anyone could be at risk for developing the disease.
In addition to recommending that people who have been diagnosed with monkeypox wear masks, the CDC recommends covering skin lesions caused by the virus “to the best extent possible,” and that people wear disposable gloves if they need to touch the lesions. Materials such as bandages and gloves that come in contact with lesions should be disposed of with guidance of public health officials and not put in landfills or dumps.
For those who travel, avoiding sick people, wild animals, meat prepared from wild game and using products made from African wild animals are other ways to prevent transmission.
“Risk to the general public is low, but you should seek medical care immediately if you develop new, unexplained skin rash (lesions on any part of the body), with or without fever and chills, and avoid contact with others,” said the CDC.
In the U.S., just 10 cases had been reported as of Memorial Day. By this Monday, there were 31 cases.
New York had seven cases as of Monday, the highest number of any U.S. state. California had six and Florida had four. Other cases were scattered in: Colorado, Washington D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
According to the latest WHO update on monkeypox 780 cases have been reported in non-endemic countries as of June 2. CDC data shows that there are now more than 1,000 cases worldwide, with the most (around 300) reported in the U.K.