Kitsap County's health department recently announced their first probable case of monkeypox. The Kitsap Public Health District said that the patient is infected with orthopoxvirus, the genus of virus that causes smallpox, cowpox, and monkeypox diseases.
After that announcement, the Washington State Department of Health now records 101 monkeypox cases in the state who tested positive for orthopoxvirus. It also included one case of a person from another state who tested positive in Washington.
Man Tested Positive With Orthopoxvirus in Kitsap County
Kitsap Sun reported that the infected patient is a male adult resident who tested positive for orthopoxvirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will conduct a follow-up test to confirm whether it was a monkeypox case. Kitsap health authorities are now identifying and notifying the patient's close contacts.
Dr. Gib Morrow, a district health officer of Kitsap Public Health, said that the first probable case of monkeypox disease has triggered awareness among residents and should not be taken as an alarm. They remind the public to be aware of how the monkeypox virus spreads and immediately contact a healthcare provider if they start to experience any symptoms.
Monkeypox spreads through close, physical contact with infected people that may result in a rash with fluid-filled bumps or sores. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that most victims of the disease outbreak typically have symptoms for two to four weeks, although severe cases could also happen.
For now, monkeypox vaccination is still unavailable to the general public as health authorities prioritize high-risk individuals, such as those who had close contact with infected people and immunocompromised individuals. The CDC said that the US has 4,600 infections as of July 27 and global cases have already exceeded 19,000.
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What is Orthopoxvirus?
According to the Lecturio Medical Concept Library, orthopoxvirus is a genus of large, brick-shaped double-strand DNA viruses, including the variola virus, which causes smallpox, monkeypox virus, and cowpox virus.
Transmission of orthopoxvirus may vary depending on the species, but they are mostly transmitted via infected bodily secretions, skin lesions, and fomites. Out of the three orthopoxviruses, smallpox is the most severe disease associated with a high mortality rate. Vaccination has eradicated smallpox and has been gone for several decades now.
This is followed by the monkeypox virus, which has similar symptoms to smallpox but a milder version. Meanwhile, vaccinia and cowpox produce mild diseases with localized lesions due to direct skin-to-skin contact.
WHO Believes Monkeypox Disease Outbreak Can Be Stopped
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the monkeypox disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), giving it the highest alert level Saturday.
Dr. Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox, said they hope to enhance the coordination of nations and all stakeholders through this label and foster global solidarity.
The decision was made after careful assessment by public health officials that saw great numbers of the monkeypox disease in Europe, UN News reported. WHO added that other regions are not as severely affected, but they believe the label was necessary to ensure the outbreak is stopped.
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