Washoe County health officials today said there is only one probable case of monkeypox in the region. They also said they have 60 doses available of the monkeypox vaccines should cases increase.
“We are currently still at one probable monkeypox case in Washoe County,” said Nancy Diao, epidemiologist with the Health District. “The case continues isolation and recovery. No other cases to report at this time.”
Diao said monkeypox is spread from skin-to-skin contact.
“Everyone can get monkeypox. [It] is transmitted through close person-to-person, skin-to-skin contact, through close respiratory secretions [and] from face to face interactions,” Diao said. “It can be [spread] through touching contaminated items of clothing, bedding towels [and] sharing utensils used by an infected person.”
More data is being analyzed as part of research into the national monkeypox outbreak, which may be influenced by fewer people getting vaccinated against smallpox.
“Avoid close physical contact, or sharing contaminated items with people who have active unknown rashes consistent with monkeypox yet to be diagnosed,” Diao added. “Everyone, especially anyone who might be in particularly affected communities should be aware of symptoms, which include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, general malaise and the characteristic rash.”
Monkeypox can be fatal but usually is not. It was first discovered in 1958 and was originally spread among nonhuman primates and rodents.
“The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Previously, almost all monkeypox cases in people outside of Africa were linked to international travel to countries where the disease commonly occurs or through imported animals. These cases occurred on multiple continents.”
There are just over 4,600 confirmed cases in the U.S.
