Washington Has A Monkeypox Case: So What Is It?

SEATTLE — Check your local newsstand, and you might see more articles about the monkeypox than you would about the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease, which normally is limited to Central and West Africa, has made a surprising jump overseas, with more 100 new monkeypox cases identified in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia over the past few days.

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 right here in Washington state. Washington's case, a presumptive monkeypox infection found in a King County resident, was reported to authorities Sunday, and confirmed by the Washington State Public Health Laboratory Monday. That case will undergo one more test by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before the diagnosis is confirmed.

But while the infections are surprising, novel even, health leaders stress that this uptick in cases is a fluke, not a new pandemic. This isn't even the first time monkeypox has had an international impact: 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 a few things Washington residents 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.

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. At a news conference on monkeypox Monday, Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County's top health official, stressed that infections can happen to anyone, provided they had been in close contact with an infectee.

"People should understand that the disease can affect anyone and those who are most at risk are those who have had close physical contact with someone with monkeypox," said King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin. "Anyone who has symptoms of monkeypox, or has been in contact with someone with monkeypox, should be evaluated by a healthcare provider."

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.

Who Gets The Vaccine?

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

What to do if you show monkeypox symptoms

Though more cases are unlikely, they're not impossible, doctors stress. If you or a loved one shows symptoms of monkeypox, Public Health - Seattle & King County says to contact your health care provider immediately. This includes anyone who:

• Traveled to central or west African countries, parts of Europe where monkeypox cases have been reported, or other areas with confirmed cases of monkeypox during the month before their symptoms began.
• Had contact with a person with confirmed or suspected monkeypox.
• Is a man who regularly has close or intimate contact with other men, including through an online website or digital app, or at a bar or party.