Monkeypox Spreads In U.S.: What Coloradans Need To Know

COLORADO — Colorado public health officials are continuing to monitor the spread of monkeypox in the country, but so far, no cases have been reported in Colorado.

"In Colorado, health care providers and clinical laboratories are required to report unusual illnesses, which may be of public concern (such as monkeypox), to public health," the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a statement released Thursday. "There are no patients in Colorado suspected or known to have monkeypox at this time."

The bottom line: The risk of contracting monkeypox for Colorado residents is low, according to assessments from health officials in the U.S. and Europe. However, some groups may have a higher risk for catching the illness.

Currently, about 200 monkeypox cases are either suspected or confirmed in about a dozen countries in Europe and North America. Since the first U.S. monkeypox case was confirmed in Massachusetts last week, others have been suspected or confirmed in Florida, New York, Utah and Washington state.

The monkeypox virus is endemic in Central and West Africa, where host animals include a range of rodents and monkeys, and can be spread from animals to humans through a bite or scratch, according to the World Health Organization.

Monkeypox is rarely reported outside of those areas, though it has happened. A 2003 outbreak of 70 U.S. cases stemmed from the import of infected prairie dogs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are more things Coloradans need to know about monkeypox:

Who Is At Risk?

Current cases appear to be related to international travel and may stem from sexual contact at two rave parties in Europe, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed the World Health Organization’s emergencies department, told The Associated Press.

“We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” Heymann told the AP.

• Related: Monkeypox Likely Spread Through Sex At 2 Raves In Europe: Expert

Transmission requires prolonged and close interaction with an infected person.

Sexual contact is not the only way monkeypox is spread, of course. The CDC said Monday the current cases “include people who self-identify as men who have sex with men,” but the risk of transmission through sex isn’t limited to gay and bisexual men.

A CDC official told CNBC that anyone can be infected regardless of sexual orientation.

The CDC said it is urging health care providers to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox, “regardless of whether they have travel or specific risk factors for monkeypox and regardless of gender or sexual orientation.”

Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox, including fever, a rash and swollen lymph nodes, and may lead to a range of medical complications, according to the WHO.

Who Gets The Vaccine?

Federal officials are releasing part of a stockpile of smallpox vaccine, which studies have shown is effective against monkeypox.

• Related: What Is Monkeypox?

The vaccine won’t be widely available, though. The CDC said Monday there’s no need for the general population to be vaccinated.

The smallpox vaccine will be released “for some of the high-risk contacts of some of the early patients, so that’s actively happening right now,” said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CNN reported.

What’s The Risk In Casual Contact?

It isn’t nonexistent, according to a document published Friday by the U.K. Health Security Agency. The document said the highest risk for contracting monkeypox is through prolonged intimate contact or contaminated clothes or bedding, but some other activities carry a medium risk, Fortune reported.

For example, Britain’s health agency said, sitting directly next to an infected person on an airplane or in a car or taxi without personal protective equipment carries a “medium risk” of exposure to monkeypox.

Monkeypox Is Not COVID-19

U.S. health officials are cautioning against making parallels between monkeypox and COVID-19.

President Joe Biden, addressing the disease for the first time Sunday, said monkeypox is “something that everyone should be concerned about” and that “it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread, it would be consequential.”

Still, “as surveillance expands, we do expect that more cases will be seen. But we need to put this into context because it’s not COVID,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, said in a live online Q&A Monday.

Monkeypox is not spread the same way as coronavirus, health experts emphasize.