Second Case Of Monkeypox Detected In Camden County

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — A second case of monkeypox was announced by Camden County officials on Wednesday.

As with the first case of monkeypox, neither the name of the person with the second case nor the town the person lived in would be released, a Camden County spokesperson told Patch.

The person with this second case of monkeypox "is isolating at home and the case remains under investigation," the county said.

Other Camden County officials encouraged the public to remain calm.

"While this is the second case of monkeypox we’ve seen here in Camden County, it’s important to reiterate to residents that this is not a cause for panic," said Camden County Health Officer and Public Health Coordinator Paschal Nwako.

"Monkeypox is very containable when immediate care has been sought for symptoms," Nwako continued. "Additionally, a vaccine is available for high-risk contacts of an infected person and patients with monkeypox can also receive antiviral treatment. We are encouraging residents to remain vigilant and to watch for symptoms."

The symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle ache, chills and a pimple or blister-like rash, according to Camden County.

Since many of these symptoms can also be indicative of the flu, Martin Topiel, MD, the chief of infectious diseases at Virtua Health in South Jersey, told Patch that anyone "with these symptoms who have had exposure to monkeypox to talk to their physician."

Below are a few more things to know about monkeypox:

• Two vaccines for monkeypox are available on a limited basis, Topiel said. That said, the federal government recently ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of monkeypox vaccine, which should arrive in the United States later this year and throughout 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on July 1.

• Monkeypox is most commonly spread through skin-to-skin contact with someone who is infected and through respiratory infections, Topiel said. Of those two transmission methods, skin-to-skin contact is a much more common way of contracting monkeypox, Topiel told Patch.

• Everyone, even those who do not have monkeypox, should keep track of the disease's spread in the United States, according to Topiel. "There's no reason to believe these emerging infections are going to disappear," he said in the interview. "Rather, they are part of who we are in this century. So, it's important to ... see how these infections present so we can protect families, friends and loved ones," he continued.

• Online sources of information for monkeypox include the CDC's website and the HHS' website, as well as Camden County and the New Jersey Department of Health.

Nationwide, there were 929 cases of confirmed monkeypox as of about 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Camden County.

The first case of monkeypox was detected in Camden County on July 5, Patch has previously reported.

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