Currently, the CDC is monitoring six people in the US for possible monkeypox infections after they sat next to an infected traveler who showed symptoms on a flight from Nigeria to the UK in early May.
Separately, CDC officials are also investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox in a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada. And the New York City Health Department is investigating a possible infection in a patient currently at Bellevue Hospital.
Meanwhile, recent monkeypox infections have been identified in several other parts of the world where the virus is not generally common, including Canada, Britain, Italy, Northern Ireland and Spain.
“At the same time, there really aren’t many cases being reported – I think maybe a dozen, a few dozen – so the general public shouldn’t be concerned about the immediate risk of monkeypox.” , he added. she says. “We are working on the investigations.”
Overall, “we have people who are being continuously monitored for disease,” CDC spokeswoman Christine Pearson wrote in an email Thursday. This means that if someone may have been exposed to a pathogen, their health is being monitored and they should see a doctor if they develop symptoms.
As for the six people currently being monitored for possible monkeypox, they “are all in good health, have no symptoms and are considered at low risk for monkeypox,” Pearson wrote, adding that none were seated. next to the sick passenger and that neither had had direct contact.
As the CDC investigation continues, discussions have begun to include the topic of vaccines.
CDC ‘discussing and evaluating’ smallpox vaccine
CDC officials are evaluating whether the smallpox vaccine should be offered to healthcare workers treating monkeypox patients and others who may be at “high risk” of monkeypox exposure, McQuiston said.
“It’s definitely something we’re discussing and evaluating, whether the smallpox vaccine offer makes sense in the current context,” she said. “We will be closer to making recommendations on this in the coming days.”
“We have vaccines that are in stock and available for use, and if they’re deemed a way to help manage this outbreak, we have the availability to use them,” McQuiston said.
“I would say we’re in the early days of understanding what’s causing this outbreak – and the fact that we’re seeing reported cases in multiple places around the world suggests it may have been going on for a few weeks,” she says. “As we work to complete our investigations and get to grips with them, hopefully we’ll have much stronger recommendations for people.”
“It’s not a disease that’s going to sweep the entire country,” Dr. Daniel Bausch, president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, told CNN on Thursday.
“From a public health perspective, of course, we need to investigate and respond – I think the general population should just be aware of this – but there’s certainly no reason to panic and I think it’s very , very, very unlikely that we’re going to get any kind of big outbreak from this,” he said. “And if you haven’t had a contact in Massachusetts and you’re not related to the person who had the disease or in this connection at all – until we have another reason to wait or figure out how this disease got into the United States — your risk of getting monkeypox is really low .”
A monkeypox mystery
In Massachusetts, doctors wearing the same personal protective equipment they wear for Covid-19 patients treated the US patient with monkeypox in a special pathogens unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was originally diagnosed.
“They were undergoing a symptom-related work-up and the infectious disease doctor seeing the patient, learning of some of the cases in the UK, decided the patient might possibly have monkeypox,” said Dr Erica Shenoy, medical director of the Regional Emerging Center for Special Treatment of Pathogens and associate chief of the infection control unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, CNN told Thursday.
“Then we had discussions with our state public health officials. The decision was made that yes, they met the criteria for testing,” Shenoy said. The patient tested positive.
“I think for the public as a whole, there’s really no clear risk at this point,” Shenoy said. “This is an evolving situation that we are looking to better understand – why these clusters which have also been reported in the UK, Portugal and Spain are occurring, and to better understand the epidemiology.”
All of the people infected with monkeypox during this outbreak fell ill after coming into contact with prairie dogs, the CDC found. These pets were housed at a pet dealer’s facility in Illinois where they may have been infected with the virus. The facilities housed other small mammals imported from Ghana that had tested positive for the monkeypox virus: two African giant rats, nine dormice and three rope squirrels.
“Prairie dogs picked up monkeypox from imported animals and then passed it on to humans,” Bausch said. “It’s a bit of a misnomer to call it monkeypox. The reservoir of this virus, the natural reservoir in nature, is probably certain types of rodents.”
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Thursday that people shouldn’t be worried about monkeypox at this stage, but they should be aware of the symptoms and know when to seek help.
Murthy explained on CNN’s New Day program that monkeypox is rare in humans, “but when it does occur, it’s a serious matter that we need to investigate, and we need to make sure we understand if and how it spreads from person to person.”
Symptoms are usually flu-like, he told CNN’s John Berman and Erica Hill.
“The good news is that we have one confirmed case right now. But we should always be on the lookout for more cases,” he said. “At the moment we don’t want people to be concerned. At this stage, again, those numbers are still low – we want them to be aware of these symptoms and if they have concerns they should contact their doctor.
#CDC #monitoring #people #rare #monkey #pox #public #shouldnt #worry
