Virginia has its first possible case of monkeypox in the state.
In a statement Thursday, the Virginia Department of Health announced that initial tests were being conducted at its state lab, but the agency is awaiting official confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The patient is a woman from northern Virginia who had recently traveled to an African country. Officials said he was being isolated at home, did not require hospitalization and “posed no risk to the public”.
Cases have been found in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia and Washington, according to a CDC briefing Thursday. A total of nine cases have been identified across the country.
The first U.S. resident to have a confirmed case of smallpox confirmed this year was a Boston man who had recently traveled to Canada. This case was reported on May 18.
“The transmission requires close contact with someone with symptomatic smallpox, and this virus has not been shown to be able to spread rapidly to the general population,” said Dr. Colin Greene, the state health commissioner. “VDH is monitoring national and international trends and has notified Virginia medical providers to monitor monkeypox cases and report them to their local health district as soon as possible.”
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Earlier this week, President Joe Biden called the monkey’s smallpox “something that should worry everyone,” especially if the virus continued to spread.
Unlike coronavirus, monkeypox is only contagious when an infected person is symptomatic and is not easily transmitted from person to person, said Julia Murphy, VDH’s state public health veterinarian.
In an interview Thursday, Murphy assured the Virginians that there is no evidence that the monkey’s smallpox has “pandemic potential” and said the state is ready to handle the disease.
Vaccines are now available to fight smallpox, a disease that has been considered extremely rare for more than 50 years, especially in the United States.
The first outbreak of smallpox in the whole country was in 2003 and was mainly concentrated in the Midwest among people who had been in contact with dogs from sick meadows.
Viral disease is transmitted when people have prolonged interactions with body fluids or contaminated materials such as clothing or sheets.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes. But one of the most distinctive signs is the presence of a specific rash with raised red marks that start on a person’s face before spreading to the rest of the body and turning into pus-filled blisters.
VDH estimates that the disease lasts between two and four weeks, and symptoms appear between seven and 14 days after exposure.
The state agency recommends seeking medical attention if residents have traveled to parts of Europe, Central or West African countries where smallpox cases have been reported; if they have had contact with someone who has a confirmed or suspected case of monkeypox; and if it is men who have sex with men, since among this group multiple cases have been identified, but not all.
However, Murphy stressed that he is not the only group of people who can get the disease.
“It would be a bad service to simply attribute infections to this group of individuals because we are detecting diseases in individuals who are not part of this group,” Murphy continued. “[We’re] at the beginning of this international research at this time, and we will be able to learn a lot more in the coming days. “
In the coming days, there is expected to be additional guidance on how monkeypox transmission is seen in various communities and who could be most at risk, Murphy said.
Last Saturday, the World Health Organization said in a statement that the spread of confirmed and suspected cases of smallpox without direct links to sites where the virus is endemic, such as Central and West African countries, is “atypical. “and” highly high “. unusual event “.
Endemic means “constantly present but limited to a particular region,” according to Columbia University’s School of Public Health.
“Therefore, there is an urgent need to raise awareness about smallpox and carry out comprehensive research and case isolation. [provided with supportive care]contact tracking and support attention to further limit transmission, ”wrote WHO officials.
Murphy said VDH is working with a variety of internal teams, including emergency preparedness staff, pharmacy and immunization staff to provide any necessary response support. The agency is also organizing webinars and contacts with health care providers to inform them of symptoms to consider.
As of Thursday night, the VDH has not found any additional cases of monkeypox after tracking contacts.
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The Richmond Times-Dispatch presents the winners of this year’s best jobs at Atlas 42 in Glen Allen, Virginia on Thursday, May 26, 2022.
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Vice President of Sales Kelly Till on the left presented Dawn Bradley, senior vice president and regional manager of Long & Foster, the best big-category jobs in the Atlas on Thursday. 42 of Glen Allen, Virginia. May 26, 2022.
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