THE NUMBER OF U. S PATIENTS WITH A RARE TYPE OF MONKEYPOX VIRUS HAS GROWN. THE CDC HAS CONFIRMED ONE CASE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND FOR ADDITIONAL CASES OF THE ORTHO POX VIRUS. THOSE SAMPLES STILL HAVE TO BE TESTED AT THE CDC HEADQUARTERS HERE IN ATLANTA , BUT INVESTIGATORS ASSUME THEY WILL ALSO BE CONFIRMED AS MONKEYPOX. THE FOX MICHAEL TEAMS GALVIN JOINS US NOW. TO TALK ABOUT THIS. SO, BETH, WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF CONCERN HERE? CHRISTINE I THINK YOU KNOW THERE IS DEFINITELY A LEVEL OF CONCERN . YOU KNOW, THE MONKEY POX VIRUSES TYPICALLY FOUND IN CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA, BUT WE'VE HAD MONKEYPOX OUTBREAKS BEFORE WE HAD ONE IN 2000 AND THREE AND IT WAS TIED TO IMPORTED PRAIRIE DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS COMING INTO THE U. S. BUT IT IS NOT CLEAR THIS TIME AROUND HOW THIS VIRUS IS SPREADING INTO THE U. S AND AROUND THE WORLD AND THAT'S WHAT'S CONCERNING, AND CDC INVESTIGATORS SPOKE WITH REPORTERS ON THE PHONE THIS AFTERNOON. AND THEY SAY THIS INVESTIGATION IS IN THE VERY EARLY STAGES. AND THEY EXPECT TO IDENTIFY SOME MORE CASES.
>>>>: THE CBC IS INVESTIGATING WHAT NOW BELIEVES ARE FIVE US MONKEYPOX CASES, ALL IN MAN IN MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK CITY, FLORIDA AND TWO CASES IN UTAH. ALL FIVE HAD RECENTLY TRAVELED INTERNATIONALLY, INVESTIGATORS SAY, AND A SAMPLE TAKEN FROM A PATIENT HOSPITALIST IN MASSACHUSETTS CLOSELY MATCHES ANOTHER CASE OF A PATIENT IN PORTUGAL WITH THE VIRUS, THE AGENCY SAYS. IT IS NOT CLEAR HOW MONKEYPOX IS SPREADING, BUT SOME OF THE PEOPLE EXPOSED IN THE U. S SELF IDENTIFY AS GAY OR BISEXUAL MEN.
AND THE RASH MAY RESEMBLE A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE. DR JOHN BROOKS IS A MEDICAL EPIDEMIOLOGIST WITH THE CDC'S DIVISION OF HIV AIDS PREVENTION. I DON'T THINK SO MUCH THAT THE STRAINS PRODUCING A DIFFERENT CRASH BUT RATHER THAT THIS IS SHOWING UP IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY THAT WE TYPICALLY EXPECT TO SEE IT. SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO BY BRINGING ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT SOME OF THESE CASES HAVE HAD GENITAL WITH PERRY.
PRESENTATION IS JUST TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT THE PEOPLE MAY COME IN FOR EVALUATION OF WHAT THEY THINK IS AN STD. BUT WE'D LIKE TO PROVIDER TO THINK. COULD IT BE MONKEYPOX AS WELL, IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE STORY IS TRACKING SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF MONKEYPOX CASES REPORTED THIS MONTH IN OTHER COUNTRIES THAT DON'T NORMALLY SEE THIS VIRUS, INCLUDING SEVERAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND CANADA.
MONKEY POX TYPICALLY BEGINS WITH FEVER, CHILLS, HEADACHE AND SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES. AND THEN WE'LL EVOLVE INTO A DISTINCTIVE RASH ON THE BODY, CAPTAIN JENNIFER MCTWIST IN DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE CDC'S DIVISION OF HIGH CONSEQUENCE, PATHOGENS IN PATHOLOGY, SAYS THE VIRUS TYPICALLY REQUIRES VERY CLOSE CONTACT TO SPREAD TO POINT OUT THAT THERE HAVE BEEN NINE TRAVEL ASSOCIATED CASES A MONKEY POX OF TRAVELERS AT LEFT NIGERIA THEY FLEW ON AIRPLANES FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME AND MULTIPLE CONTACTS FROM THOSE PATIENTS WERE FOLLOWED UP.
AND WE'RE NOT AWARE OF ANY MONKEY POX. CASES THAT SPREAD FROM THEM. IT'S AN ILLUSTRATION THAT THIS IS NOT, UM AND EASILY TRANSMISSIBLE VIRUS. AND DR MCTWIST IN TELLING REPORTERS, THIS IS NOT COVID-19 THAT YOU'RE NOT LIKELY TO BE EXPOSED OR INFECTED TO THIS VIRUS WHILE YOU'RE AT THE GROCERY STORE OR YOU'RE IN OTHER PUBLIC SETTINGS. IT REQUIRES COAST CLOSE CONTACT, BUT THEY DO WANT AMERICANS TO BE AWARE OF THIS VIRUS AND THIS OUTBREAK AND THE TELLTALE RASH. AND IF THEY HAVE TRAVELED INTERNATIONALLY OR BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS DEVELOPED THIS KIND OF RASH TO GO TO THE DOCTOR AND CHRISTINE, AND THEY JUST WANT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO ALSO BE AWARE OF THIS.
YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THIS VIRUS , YOU KNOW, WITH THE COMMON PPE THAT THEY USE FOR COVID-19. SO THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT COULD BE DIAGNOSED IN AN OFFICE, YOU KNOW, IN A DOCTOR'S OFFICE WITH PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT BEING WARNED, BUT THEY REALLY WANT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO BE UNAWARE AND BE ON THE LOOKOUT >>CHRISTINE: FOR THIS SYMPTOMS LIKE YOU SAID, TO KIND OF RAISE THE RED FLAG AND HAVE GOOD TO REMEMBER. WE STILL ONLY HAVE FIVE CASES RIGHT NOW IN U. S SUSPECTED CASES, SO STILL V.
