LOS ANGELES (KABC) – The first case of smallpox in Los Angeles County has yet to be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but all indications are that it is here.
So what exactly is monkey pox? Need to worry about that?
Unlike COVID-19, we’ve known about monkeypox for decades, so we’re better prepared.
Occasional cases occur every year, but are usually confined to Africa. But some years, we see it spread to other continents, and this is one of those years.
It is usually not fatal and the smallpox of the monkey is not as transmissible as the coronavirus.
Despite the additional cases, health officials said the monkey’s smallpox is not as transmissible as COVID and poses a very small risk.
“What I can tell you is that this person has been confirmed to have traveled to the country,” LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said of the alleged case.
We know that this person had a known close contact with a case and that the individual is symptomatic and isolated.
The person is fine and not hospitalized.
“Monkeypox is a serious disease,” Paul Chapin told Bavarian Nordic, a company that produces smallpox vaccines. “However, it is not as contagious as COVID, for example. So I think even though we need to take all the necessary steps to try to contain the outbreak. The general public should not be alarmed.”
Experts say that smallpox is a cousin of the smallpox virus and causes similar, but milder, symptoms in humans.
It can pass to humans through a bite or scratch. Human-to-human transmission occurs through prolonged hugs, touches, or face-to-face contact.
“It can also be transmitted if someone has a virus very close to someone who coughs and speaks loudly,” said Dr. Edward Jones-Lopez, an infectious disease specialist at Kec Medicine at USC.
He said the same mitigation efforts you use for COVID-19, such as wearing a mask and keeping yourself apart, will keep you safe.
Symptoms include: headache, fever, exhaustion, muscle aches, chills, back pain, injuries and swollen lymph nodes.
Available vaccines and therapies can help contain the outbreaks.
“It’s a vaccine that’s not specifically for monkeypox, but it has pretty good cross-protection against smallpox,” Jones-Lopex said.
Some vaccines, including smallpox and rabies vaccines, can be given right after someone is exposed to prevent the virus from getting into the body.
There are two vaccines in the U.S. National Reserve that can be used for monkeypox exposure.
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