Growing Number of Monkeypox Cases Reported Across the US: CDC

A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. CDC/Handout via Reuters

The number of monkeypox cases in the United States has risen to 21 as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The agency’s data show that there are four cases in New York, four in California, three in Florida, two in Colorado, two in Utah, and one each in Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington state.

Health officials on Thursday said multiple U.S. cities reported suspected monkeypox cases.

“The Health Department has identified a Philadelphia resident who is a probable monkeypox case based on preliminary testing at the @PAHealthDept’s Bureau of Laboratories. Confirmatory monkeypox testing at the [CDC] is pending,” Philadelphia Public Health wrote on Twitter.

The agency also said that “monkeypox is spread through close, personal contact. Initial symptoms usually include fever, fatigue, headache, and enlarged lymph nodes. A rash often starts on the face and then appears on the palms, arms, legs, and other parts of the body.

Officials in Los Angeles County said the city’s health agency submitted data to the CDC about the first likely Los Angeles monkeypox infection.

“The patient is an adult resident who recently traveled and had a known close contact to a case,” the Los Angeles Department of Public Health wrote. “Although the patient is symptomatic, they are doing well and not hospitalized. They are isolated from others.”

Around the same time, Chicago and Illinois state officials said a man who recently traveled to Europe was the state’s first likely case. The man is isolated and in good condition, officials said in a statement.

“The case remains isolated and at this time there is no indication there is a great risk of extensive local spread of the virus, as monkeypox does not spread as easily as the COVID-19 virus,” the two agencies said in the statement.

So far, in the recent outbreak in North America and Europe, no deaths have been reported. Monkeypox, a relative of smallpox, is endemic to several African countries, although outbreaks outside the continent are considered quite rare.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization suggested that the virus may have been spreading undetected for some time before the recent outbreak.

“We don’t really know whether it’s too late to contain. What WHO and all member states are trying to do is prevent onward spread,” Dr. Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s monkeypox technical lead, said on June 1 in Geneva. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said that most cases have been reported by homosexual males who sought care at health clinics for sexually transmitted diseases.