The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reported a presumed case of monkeypox. If confirmed, this would be the first monkeypox case found in the nation’s largest county.
The patient is an adult who recently traveled and had a close contact with a case of monkeypox, a health department news release said. The patient has not been hospitalized but has isolated and is doing well.
Samples have been sent to the CDC for confirmation. The county health department is doing contact tracing, the release said.
California’s first confirmed case of monkeypox was detected last week in Sacramento County, and two close contacts of that person have since contracted the disease, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The CDC said Wednesday that there have been 19 confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States, including the three in California. Health authorities have detected four cases in New York, three in Florida, two in Colorado and Utah, and one in Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington state.
Globally, more than 550 cases have been found in 30 countries, according to a Tuesday update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
While monkeypox is endemic to Central and West Africa, cases were rare and isolated outside of these areas before May. The virus is primarily spread through close physical contact. The first symptoms are often fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. This can then lead to swollen lymph nodes and a rash appearing on the face, hands, feet, and genitals that turns into red bumps on the skin. Symptoms tend to last 2 to 4 weeks.
County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health: “Los Angeles County Confirms First Presumptive Case of Monkeypox.”
Los Angeles Times: “L.A. County reports first suspected monkeypox case.”
CDC: “U.S. Monkeypox 2022: Situation Summary.”
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: “Summary of Epidemiological update as of 31 May.”
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