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SAN DIEGO — San Diego County health officials have identified two “probable” cases of monkeypox in the region, they announced Wednesday.
The cases would mark the first known appearance of the virus in the San Diego area, though they still need to be formally verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the County Health and Human Services Agency said in a news release.
“The two cases are unrelated to each other, but both individuals recently traveled internationally,” wrote Katie Cadiao, a county spokesperson. “Although symptomatic, they are doing well and are not hospitalized. Both individuals are isolated from others.”
Monkeypox is a viral infection that spreads through contact with body fluids, sores on the body of someone who already has the virus, and shared items like clothing and bedding. While it is not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease, it can be spread through sex by skin-to-skin contact.
The virus, and images of the unsightly sores it can cause, has captured widespread attention as an outbreak spreads globally and the first cases in the U.S. have been announced.
Though the public is weary from several years of the coronavirus pandemic, experts generally agree that monkeypox does not appear to be “the next COVID-19.”
Early evidence suggests that the monkeypox outbreak is not spreading as easily as the coronavirus. It is not known to linger in the air and is not transmitted during short periods of shared airspace, according to the Health and Human Services Agency.
“It is not acting in a way like a disease that spreads through respiratory droplets or airborne dominantly does,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, in a recent media briefing.
“So it’s not acting like influenza or COVID or chickenpox or measles – things that spread quickly in an unvaccinated community. It is acting more like a disease that is spreading by close contact.”
According to county health officials, symptoms of monkeypox include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Backache
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Chills
- Exhaustion
Check back for updates to this developing story.
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