More CT Monkeypox Cases Likely, Health Officials Say: Here's What To Know

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut identified a 12th monkeypox case Thursday evening and new cases will likely be identified every day, but the risk to the general population remains low, according to state public health officials.

“Right now, it is vastly limited to the community of men having sex with men,” Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said at a news conference. “That could change with time, but we do need to try to do our best effort to control the infection from spreading beyond that.”

Juthani stressed that people shouldn’t be ashamed if they contract the disease and should contact their doctor if they have an unexplained rash that is consistent with monkeypox. DPH is working with partners around the state to educate and raise awareness.

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The disease is primarily spread through skin-to-skin contact when an infected person has active lesions. It’s not a sexually transmitted disease per se, Juthani said, but much of the recorded transmission has occurred during intimate contact. Current scientific evidence suggests that the disease isn’t spread when symptoms aren’t active.

The U.S. has recently ramped up monkeypox testing capacity by bringing several commercial laboratories into the fold. Capacity nationally will go from 10,000 tests per week to 50,000 tests. Test turnaround time is about three days.

“We're hoping to be able to identify as many cases as possible, so that we can try to contain this infection,” she said.

Testing currently isn’t free and costs will vary by insurance plan, Juthani said.

Nearly 1,500 cases have been identified nationally as of Thursday. New York has more than 400 cases and Massachusetts is up to 65, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. and Connecticut health strategy is still trying to contain and stamp out the disease. The next few weeks will be critical to the containment goal.

“I am getting concerned that we may not be able to achieve containment, and we will move towards mitigation,” she said.

Connecticut has about 600 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine allocated, and another 400 doses are anticipated in the coming weeks. Vaccination requires two doses per patient.

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The current U.S. vaccine strategy is to use it as a prophylactic treatment after possible exposure. The vaccine generally prevents symptoms if administered within four days of exposure. It can also be used up to 14 days after exposure, but at that point it’s more likely to lessen symptoms rather than prevent them entirely. The vaccine is also given to people who have a high likelihood of being exposed to the virus, such as those who are conducting testing analysis.

“If more vaccine becomes available, if the risk of infection becomes more broad, we'll adapt and modify and change those recommendations as we go forward,” Juthani said.