Florida is investigating its second possible monkeypox case. See how it’s spreading
Florida health authorities are investigating the state’s second possible case of monkeypox — as nearly 257 cases have been confirmed this month in 23 countries where the virus is not regularly found.
Both patients are isolated and the risk of exposure remains low, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County said last week in a news release.
On May 22, Florida Health reported the state’s first presumptive case of monkeypox after a person traveled internationally.
Authorities are conducting epidemiological investigations to notify people who may have been exposed and offers them medical treatment if necessary, the agency said.
Monkeypox is a rare and potentially deadly disease caused by a virus with the same name, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes followed by a rash.
The risk of exposure remains low as people who received the smallpox vaccine are more likely to be protected against monkeypox, according to Florida Health. The state agency adds that human-to-human transmission generally requires prolonged and close contact, direct with bodily fluids or lesion material, or indirect contact with contaminated clothing or linens.
The disease has been predominantly detected in central and western African countries since the 1970s, according to the CDC. Cases in people living outside of Africa have been linked to international travel or imported animals.
READ MORE: Florida Department of Health and CDC investigating a monkeypox case in Broward County
In 2003, the CDC says there was a monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. after a shipment of animals from Ghana arrived to Texas, resulting in 47 confirmed and probable human cases.
But it wasn’t until last year that health officials confirmed another case of monkeypox in the country.
Timeline of recent monkeypox cases in the U.S.
Several confirmed and suspected monkeypox cases have been reported across America since July, according to federal and local health agencies.
July 15, 2021: A U.S. citizen who traveled from Nigeria to the U.S. on two commercial flights later was confirmed to have monkeypox. Health officials from Texas and the CDC identified more than 200 people who had possible contact with the patient but no other cases were detected.
Nov. 16, 2021: A case of monkeypox was detected in a U.S. resident from Maryland who had recently returned from Nigeria to the U.S.
May 18, 2022: A U.S. resident from Massachusetts tested positive for monkeypox after returning to the U.S. from Canada.
May 19, 2022: New York health authorities began investigating two New York City residents for possible monkeypox infection. Preliminary testing ruled out one of the cases but the other was positive for orthopox virus — the family of viruses to which monkeypox belongs — and had symptoms consistent with monkeypox. On May 26, authorities said they will be treated as a probable monkeypox cases in absence of a diagnosis.
May 22, 2022: The Florida Department of Health in Broward County reported it’s investigating the state’s first presumptive case of monkeypox — which is related to international travel.
May 23, 2022: Florida Health in Broward announced it’s investigating the state’s second presumptive case of monkeypox.
May 23, 2022: The Salt Lake County Health Department in Utah announced that two adults in the same household are considered probable monkeypox cases based on preliminary testing.
May 24: California health authorities are investigating the state’s first suspected case of monkeypox infection in Sacramento County in a person who recently traveled abroad. The patient has tested preliminarily positive for an orthopox virus, and confirmation for monkeypox is pending CDC testing.
May 26: Colorado health authorities reported the state’s first presumptive case of monkeypox. The person who got the virus recently traveled to Canada.
May 27: Colorado health authorities reported the state’s second presumptive monkeypox case. The person who acquired the virus was a close contact of a person known to authorities as a presumptive case of monkeypox.
May 27: The CDC confirmed Virginia’s first monkeypox case, reported as presumptive the day before. The patient is an adult female resident of the Northern region of the state with recent international travel history to an African country where the disease is known to occur, according to health state authorities. She was not infectious during travel. She did not require hospitalization and is isolating at home to monitor her health.
May 27: Washington state reported its first case of monkeypox. The person, a King County resident, did not require hospitalization and is isolating at home, according to state health authorities.
The CDC is also tracking multiple clusters of monkeypox that have been reported in May in several countries that don’t normally report this disease, including in Europe and Canada.
There are 257 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 23 countries where the virus is not usually found, the World Health Organization reported Sunday.