Washoe County Health District will host a monkeypox virus town hall Friday, Aug. 5 at noon to share information about the virus with the community. The event was scheduled after the White House said a federal public health emergency had been declared for the monkeypox virus.
The virtual town hall is open to the public and will be in a question and answer format with officials from WCHD and experts from Northern Nevada HOPES on hand.
The World Health Organization has been tracking cases of monkeypox since mid-May when cases were confirmed in the United Kingdom and Ireland – areas where the virus isn’t normally seen. WHO declared the virus as a public health emergency of international concern on July 23.
The U.S. public health emergency declaration puts into motion a handful of actions at the federal level. Grant funding and additional resources become available to speed response to the outbreak.
There is still just one reported monkeypox case in Washoe County.
WCHD officials said contact tracing was completed and vaccines were available for those with close contact to the case and for laboratory workers who handle test samples and specimens.
There are enough vaccines in the community for about 150 people, health officials said, should additional cases be reported.
Health district officials said that although monkeypox can spread through physical contact during sex, it isn’t a sexually transmitted disease. Anyone can get monkeypox as it is spread through close physical contact with someone who has the virus.
Today’s town hall can be accessed at this Zoom link, and questions can be submitted in the chat to be answered aloud. Questions can also be submitted in advance to [email protected].
More information on monkeypox and the health district’s response is available at www.washoecounty.gov/monkeypox.
