More Monkeypox Cases Suspected In The U.S., Here's What You Need To Know About The Virus

MARYLAND — More monkeypox cases have been reported in the United States since the first case of 2022 was reported in Massachusetts last week. Marylanders may recall that in November 2021, a resident who had traveled to Nigeria came down with monkeypox and upon returning home to Maryland went into isolation during the recovery process.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at that time since the traveler's fellow airplane passengers were required to wear masks on the plane due to COVID-19 guidelines in place at the time, the risk of spreading the monkeypox virus via respiratory droplets to others on the plane was low.

Even though more cases are being reported this year, there’s no need for Marylanders to panic, health officials say as they continue to learn more about how the viral disease is spread.

The bottom line: The risk of contracting monkeypox for Marylanders is low, according to assessments from health officials in the U.S. and Europe. However, some groups may have a higher risk for catching the illness.

Eric Toner, MD, an expert in bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security shared Monday that while monkeypox begins with a flu-like illness, fever and pronounced swelling of the lymph nodes. After several days, a rash appears that resembles chickenpox or smallpox, which gradually worsens in appearance in the following week or two. The pox will crust over and people recover.

"We'd like to do what we did with smallpox to eradicate it: ring vaccination — if you see a case and then you vaccinate the people around that case, you can stop the spread of the disease. ... There's little doubt that we can contain and stop this outbreak. It's not of great concern for the general public, although certainly it's of concern to people in public health and frontline health care workers."

Currently, about 200 monkeypox cases are either suspected or confirmed in about a dozen countries in Europe and North America. Since the first U.S. monkeypox case was confirmed in Massachusetts last week, others have been suspected or confirmed in Florida, New York, Utah and Washington state.

The monkeypox virus is endemic in Central and West Africa, where host animals include a range of rodents and monkeys, and can be spread from animals to humans through a bite or scratch, according to the World Health Organization.

Monkeypox is rarely reported outside of those areas, though it has happened. A 2003 outbreak of 70 U.S. cases stemmed from the import of infected prairie dogs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are more things Marylanders need to know about monkeypox:

Who Is At Risk?

Current cases appear to be related to international travel and may stem from sexual contact at two rave parties in Europe, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed the World Health Organization’s emergencies department, told The Associated Press.

“We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” Heymann told the AP.

• Related: Monkeypox Likely Spread Through Sex At 2 Raves In Europe: Expert

Transmission requires prolonged and close interaction with an infected person.

Sexual contact is not the only way monkeypox is spread, of course. The CDC said Monday the current cases “include people who self-identify as men who have sex with men,” but the risk of transmission through sex isn’t limited to gay and bisexual men.

A CDC official told CNBC that anyone can be infected regardless of sexual orientation.

The CDC said it is urging health care providers to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox, “regardless of whether they have travel or specific risk factors for monkeypox and regardless of gender or sexual orientation.”

Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox, including fever, a rash and swollen lymph nodes, and may lead to a range of medical complications, according to the WHO.

Who Gets The Vaccine?

Federal officials are releasing part of a stockpile of smallpox vaccine, which studies have shown is effective against monkeypox.

• Related: What Is Monkeypox?

The vaccine won’t be widely available, though. The CDC said Monday there’s no need for the general population to be vaccinated.

The smallpox vaccine will be released “for some of the high-risk contacts of some of the early patients, so that’s actively happening right now,” said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CNN reported.

What’s The Risk In Casual Contact?

It isn’t nonexistent, according to a document published Friday by the U.K. Health Security Agency. The document said the highest risk for contracting monkeypox is through prolonged intimate contact or contaminated clothes or bedding, but some other activities carry a medium risk, Fortune reported.

For example, Britain’s health agency said, sitting directly next to an infected person on an airplane or in a car or taxi without personal protective equipment carries a “medium risk” of exposure to monkeypox.

Monkeypox Is Not COVID-19

U.S. health officials are cautioning against making parallels between monkeypox and COVID-19.

President Joe Biden, addressing the disease for the first time Sunday, said monkeypox is “something that everyone should be concerned about” and that “it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread, it would be consequential.”

Still, “as surveillance expands, we do expect that more cases will be seen. But we need to put this into context because it’s not COVID,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, said in a live online Q&A Monday.

Monkeypox is not spread the same way as coronavirus, health experts emphasize.