2 More Likely Monkeypox Cases Identified In Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO, CA — Public health officials have identified two more suspected cases of monkeypox in Sacramento County that they said are unrelated to the county's first five cases.

The latest cases were related to travel within the United States, the Sacramento County Public Health department said in a news release Thursday morning. The agency is tracing close contacts of the individuals. An investigation remains ongoing.

The latest cases come after two were identified in San Diego County this week and two more were found in Los Angeles County last week.

The total in California was 17 presumed and confirmed cases as of Tuesday afternoon.

Monkeypox symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Within up to three days (sometimes longer) after a patient experiences a fever, they often develop a rash on the face that spreads to other parts of the body. It usually takes a week or two from the time of infection for a patient to develop symptoms. That can range from five to 21 days, however, and illness typically lasts two to four weeks.

All U.S. patients experienced a rash or enanthem, a rash on the mucous membranes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory last month and again Tuesday regarding a confirmed case of monkeypox in Massachusetts, and multiple infection clusters in other countries that do not typically have monkeypox cases. Many of the cases have been found in people who self-identify as men who have sex with men. However, officials note anyone can acquire and spread monkeypox.

Since May 2022, 65 monkeypox cases have been identified in 18 states and territories among people returning from international travel and their close contacts domestically. More than 1,600 cases have been reported worldwide from more than 30 countries, and the case count continues to rise daily, the CDC said.

"In the United States, evidence of person-to-person disease transmission in multiple states and reports of clinical cases with some uncharacteristic features have raised concern that some cases are not being recognized and tested," the CDC said.

About 1 percent of people die from monkeypox associated with the West African clade of the virus. That number could be higher in immunocompromised people. So far, no deaths have been reported globally from the current outbreak.

Officials said the virus mainly spreads through close contact, sustained skin-to-skin contact (including sexual contact with an infected person) or contact with contaminated bed linens.

The World Health Organization said this week it is creating a new vaccine-sharing mechanism to stop the outbreak, The Associated Press reported.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director-general, said the agency is developing an initiative for “fair access” to vaccines and treatments that it hopes will be ready within weeks. The mechanism was proposed shortly after Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the U.S. and other countries reported hundreds of monkeypox cases last month.

WHO has described the outbreak as “unusual” and said the virus' continuing spread was worrying enough to convene its expert committee next week to decide if monkeypox should be declared a global emergency.

Vaccines for smallpox, a related disease, are thought to be about 85 percent effective against monkeypox.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.