NORTH GEORGIA HEALTH DISTRICT

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    NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

About Monkeypox

Category: Press Room
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The North Georgia Health District will include the most up to date information here on Monkeypox from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to answer questions such as what is Monkeypox? Who is at risk? How does it spread? What are the symptoms? And, how can we protect against it? We will add more information as it becomes available. All the latest updates are posted on the CDC website at https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/about.html. 

Latest Updates from the CDC

2022 U.S. Monkeypox Cases
 Monkeypox handout eng
Click to view and download this CDC Monkeypox fact sheet in English
 Monkeypox handout sp
  • CDC is tracking multiple cases of monkeypox that have been reported in several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including the United States.
  • CDC is urging healthcare providers in the U.S. to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox.
  • CDC is working with state and local health officials to identify people who may have been in contact with individuals who have tested positive for monkeypox, so they can monitor their health.
  • Monkeypox is rare and does not spread easily between people without close contact. The threat of monkeypox to the general U.S. population remains LOW.
More on U.S. Cases
 
Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The Orthopoxvirus genus also includes variola virus (which causes smallpox), vaccinia virus (used in the smallpox vaccine), and cowpox virus.
 
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox.’ The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people in several other central and western African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. The majority of infections are in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 
Monkeypox cases in people have occurred outside of Africa linked to international travel or imported animals, including cases in the United States, as well as Israel, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
 
The natural reservoir of monkeypox remains unknown. However, African rodents and non-human primates (like monkeys) may harbor the virus and infect people.
 
 
Page last reviewed: June 9, 2022
 
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP)
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