Illinois Ranks Third Nationally With 46 Confirmed Monkeypox Cases: CDC

ILLINOIS — As more localized cases of the monkeypox begin to be reported across Illinois, the state ranks third nationally in the number of cases of the rare disease that are being reported by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

A total of 46 monkeypox cases have been reported in Illinois, 32 of which involve Chicago residents, the Chicago Department of Public Health said. The CDC reports that Illinois trails only California (80 cases) and New York (72) in the highest caseloads in the nation.

On Thursday, Lake County became the latest Illinois county to register a case of the monkeypox, which has not resulted in any deaths thus far, the CDC said. In most cases, residents who test positive for the monkeypox recover in anywhere between 2-4 weeks, health officials said.

Positive monkeypox cases were reported in Illinois in Will County as well as in DuPage County and in suburban Cook County, state health officials said. Overall, there have been 84 cases reported nationwide.

The CDC has started to roll out 300,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccines and Chicago health officials said this week that the health department has started to get the vaccines out to where they are needed most.

“We will continue to make the vaccine available to communities most at risk and where transmission has been highest, as more vaccine continues to be available in coming weeks and months,” health officials said.

Monkeypox is a rare, but potentially serious viral illness, which often begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes, health officials said. The illness progresses to a rash on the face and body.

Monkeypox was first observed in Africa in 1970 and is usually found in western and central portions of the continent.

The virus comes from the same family as smallpox and despite its name is not linked directly to its namesake.

"It does not come from monkeys. That's just what it was initially detected in and it's a virus that is not related to the COVID virus," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a news release. "It's a completely different family. One of the reasons why there's attention to it is it's in the same family that the smallpox virus. We don't have smallpox anymore. We eradicated but it's in that family."

A 2003 outbreak of 70 U.S. cases that began in Illinois stemmed from the import of infected prairie dogs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the first time human monkeypox cases were reported outside of Africa.

During the 2003 outbreak, 13 monkeypox cases were reported in Illinois, with four cases having been confirmed in DuPage County and one case that was unconfirmed in Will County. The first monkeypox cases in Illinois came from prairie dogs sold by an exotic animals dealer in Villa Park, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.