Oregon Identifies 1st Suspected Monkeypox Case, Health Officials Say

PORTLAND, OR — Oregon has identified its first suspected case of monkeypox, officials said Thursday.

The man traveled to a community with confirmed cases and is isolating, the Oregon Department of Human Services and Oregon Health Authority said in a news release Thursday. He is following recommendations from public health officials and medical providers.

A sample was sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.

The health authority is working with the CDC, local public health and the patient’s health care providers to identify others who could have been exposed exposure.

“hMPXV does not spread easily between people, so the risk to other people is generally very low,” Dr. Richard Leman, a public health physician at the health authority, said in a statement. “Unlike COVID-19, which can be spread easily from person to person through the air over several feet of space, hMPXV spreads between people primarily through direct contact with infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids. Less commonly, it can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact.”

Monkeypox is in the same group of viruses as smallpox, but is not smallpox. It's much harder to become infected and is not as severe.

Officials noted there are two strains of the virus, and the one that’s circulating now causes milder disease. Most people recover at home without any special treatment. No deaths reported nationwide.

People can become infected by handling wild animals or through person-to-person contact. This can be prolonged, close contact such as skin-to-skin, contact with fluid from monkeypox lesions, or less commonly from large breathing droplets.

“An ill person who coughs or sneezes on someone else could possibly spread the infection. However, most transmission in the current outbreak appears to be from prolonged, skin-to-skin contact,” Leman said.

Monkeypox symptoms include fever, headache and muscle aches. These symptoms are typically followed in up to three days by a rash, often on the face, that spreads to the rest of the body. The rash starts with flat patches that then form large, firm bumps, which then fill with fluid or pus. These then scab and fall off, usually over two to four weeks. Symptoms usually start within seven to 14 days after exposure, but can range from five to 21 days.

People most at risk are the sexual partners of an infected person, family members and health care workers caring for an infected person.

Officials said there are 84 cases across 18 states. That includes at least 17 in California.

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, monkeypox cases have been identified 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.