MONKEYPOX cases continue to rise in the US with new infections detected, data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
The latest update by the CDC on Friday brings the nation’s total cases to 1,972, only two months since the first US case was detected.
The US confirmed its first case of monkeypox in a traveler who returned to Massachusetts from Canada on May 17.
California has been struck the hardest with 48 confirmed cases, followed by New York with 23 and Illinois with 19.
Anyone can get the illness – more so if you have been in contact or had sexual contact with someone with symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance about how to identify monkeypox during the outbreak.
Traditionally, people with monkeypox have developed a fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches and muscle aches.
The symptoms are followed by a rash that starts on their face or mouth and then spreads to other parts of their body – particularly the hands and feet.
However, in some recent cases, patients first experienced a rash in the mouth or around the genitals or anus.
And instead of widespread rashes, some patients saw scattered or localized lesions in areas other than the face, hands, or feet.
At times, flu-like symptoms developed after the rash, but other people didn’t have those symptoms at all.
Scientists have warned of unusual symptoms in US patients that were not previously associated with the virus.
Some patients reported pain in or around the anus and rectum, rectal bleeding, proctitis (painful inflammation of the rectum lining), or the feeling of needing a bowel movement even though the bowels are empty.
Monkeypox comes from the same family of viruses like smallpox.
Most people recover from monkeypox within weeks, but the disease is fatal for up to 1 in 10 people, according to the World Health Organization.
