REGIONAL- Minnesota joined the world in another health scare this week, announcing on Monday the state’s first case of monkeypox.
As of Tuesday, 4,769 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 49 countries, with the United Kingdom registering the highest number of cases with 1,076.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox is in the same virus family as smallpox and cowpox, but is not related to chickenpox. The most recognizable symptom, which can be extremely painful, is a rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, and anus. The rash goes through different stages during the two-to-four-week course of the infection and can leave permanent scarring. Other generalized symptoms may include fever, headache, muscle and back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.
This particular monkeypox virus strain, the West African version, is fatal in less than one percent of cases.
“This is the first case of monkeypox in Minnesota during this particular outbreak, which began in May of this year,” Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm said in a Monday press conference. “Monkeypox is a rare disease in the United States. The virus is spread by close contact, typically skin-to-skin contact with the rash or bodily fluids. To put it into context, it’s important to know that monkeypox is less infectious that COVID-19, measles, chickenpox, and influenza.”
State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield provided one piece of information about the Minnesota case.
“I can share that the person had traveled to Europe,” she said. “There is currently a global outbreak of monkeypox occurring and there are many cases occurring in Europe.”
After reconfirming details presented by Malcolm, Lynfied said that she believes the general public is not in danger at this time.
“We don’t think there are any high-risk contacts in Minnesota,” she said.
During his regular podcast last Friday, infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm noted that of 430 monkeypox cases identified in Europe, 99.4 percent were male, almost half were in their thirties, and 98 percent identified as men who have sex with men, something Malcolm addressed in her comments on Monday.
“Some of the monkeypox cases in and around the world and in the United States that have self-reported that they identify as gay or bisexual men,” Malcolm said. “But monkeypox does not just affect this population. Anyone can get monkeypox. Monkeypox does not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, where you come from, or anything else.”
Malcom went on to say that the Department of Health condemn all forms of discrimination and violence toward others and encouraged people who become aware of such to call the Department of Human Rights discrimination hotline.
“One of the key messages we want to leave with Minnesotans is that the risk remains low,” Malcolm said.
But while the risk is statistically low, health officials around the world don’t yet have a handle on this new outbreak, Osterholm said.
“We don’t have this outbreak under control at all,” he said. “We need to figure out the best way to go about vaccinating and controlling the outbreak. I worry that people think well, this outbreak will just kind of eventually diminish itself and be extinguished.”
Osterholm called for identifying high-risk groups, such as men who have had sex with multiple anonymous male partners, and providing them with vaccines.
As of Tuesday, only 305 cases of monkeypox had been diagnosed in the U.S.