CDC and health partners responding to monkeypox case in the U.S. : case identified after monkeypox clusters in several other countries : media statement for immediate release Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Description:
  Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to investigate a case of monkeypox in a Massachusetts resident who had recently traveled to Canada by private transportation. Testing in Massachusetts found orthopox virus infection Tuesday night, and CDC labs confirmed as monkeypox this afternoon.
  
  CDC is also tracking multiple clusters of monkeypox that have been reported within the past two weeks in several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It’s not clear how people in those clusters were exposed to monkeypox but cases include individuals who self-identify as men who have sex with men. CDC is urging healthcare providers in the U.S. to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox, regardless of whether they have travel or specific risk factors for monkeypox.
  
  Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can spread monkeypox through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or shared items (such as clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids or sores of a person with monkeypox. Monkeypox virus can also spread between people through respiratory droplets typically in a close setting, such as the same household or a healthcare setting. Common household disinfectants can kill the monkeypox virus.
  
  “Many of these global reports of monkeypox cases are occurring within sexual networks. However, healthcare providers should be alert to any rash that has features typical of monkeypox. We’re asking the public to contact their healthcare provider if they have a new rash and are concerned about monkeypox,” said Inger Damon, MD, PhD, a poxvirus expert with more than 20 years’ experience and Director of CDC’s Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, where the agency’s poxvirus research is based.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Mpox (monkeypox)
• Document Type:
  Press Release
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Collection(s):
  Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cce396ef428773e734ec5ba16c32784546a9e5ffa5c084b96a7d9dabaa264e81
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/117480/cdc_117480_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 136.95 KB ]