U.S. CDC Issues Monkeypox Health Alert

The U.S. CDC announced today in a Health Advisory the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the CDC are investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox in the United States.

As announced by Massachusetts on May 17, 2022, the patient was infected with a West African strain of monkeypox virus.

As of May 20, 2022, media sources have reported 'six suspected monkeypox cases in the U.S., including New York City.

Globally, (11) countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, and Australia, have reported monkeypox cases.

The CDC issued today's Health Alert Network Health Advisory CDCHAN-00466 to ask clinicians in the U.S. to be vigilant to the characteristic rash associated with monkeypox.

Lesions may be disseminated or located on the genital or perianal area alone. In addition, some patients may present with proctitis, and their illness could be clinically confused with a sexually transmitted infection like syphilis or herpes or with varicella-zoster virus infection.

Suspicion of a monkeypox infection should be heightened if a rash occurs in people who:

• traveled to countries with recently confirmed cases of monkeypox,
• report having had contact with a person or people who have a similar-appearing rash or received a diagnosis of confirmed or suspected monkeypox, or
• is a man who regularly has close or intimate in-person contact with other men.

According to the CDC, monkeypox is a zoonotic infection endemic to several Central and West African countries.

However, the actual source of the monkeypox virus is unknown.

Before May 2022, monkeypox cases outside of Africa were reported either among people who visited Nigeria or in contact with a person with a confirmed monkeypox virus infection. 

The last cases in the U.S. were confirmed in Texas and Maryland in 2021.

According to the U.S. FDA, the TPOXX antiviral and the Jynneos vaccine are potential therapeutics for controlling a monkeypox outbreak. 

Additional monkeypox outbreak news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.com/Monkeypox.

Note: The information was manually curated for mobile readers.