Fourth Mass. Monkeypox Case Confirmed

Initial testing for the virus was completed at the State Public Health Laboratory in Jamaica Plain.

The CDC will follow up with additional testing, according to a DPH release. The man who tested positive is currently isolating while healthcare workers use contact tracing to limit transmission.

Tuesday’s confirmed case comes just days after officials said two more cases had been detected in Massachusetts men.

There have been 65 monkeypox cases this year among United States residents, according to CDC data.

The first case in the country was identified in Massachusetts on May 18. It generally takes patients two to four weeks to recover fully.

There have been no reported deaths related to the current global outbreak.

DPH officials offered new warnings and information regarding the outbreak.

Suspected monkeypox samples are seen inside a refrigerator at the microbiology laboratory of La Paz Hospital in Madrid, Spain. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Europe

“Although many of the early cases were associated with international travel, recent cases are not. Gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men make up a large proportion of the cases identified to date.

However, the risk is not limited to the LGBT community, and anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has monkeypox is at risk,” a DPH statement read.

While the virus does not spread easily between people, people can spread the infection once they develop symptoms.

Transmission usually occurs through direct contact with body fluids and monkeypox sores.

Or by touching items that have been contaminated with fluids or sores such as clothing or bedding.

It can also spread through respiratory droplets, but prolonged face-to-face contact is necessary and this form of transmission is less common.

The locations of rashes and lesions in the recent cases suggest transmission during sexual contact, according to the DPH.

Early symptoms of the virus include a rash, headache, fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and the development of raised, fluid-filled lesions.

While we are in this current outbreak, and even though monkeypox remains rare.

People are encouraged to be mindful of their health,” Dr. Catherine Brown, the state epidemiologist, said in the statement.

“If you have any symptoms, and especially if you have a rash, it is best to avoid prolonged physical contact with anyone until you are well.”

Monkeypox was originally named in 1958 when two outbreaks occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, according to the CDC.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that WHO will work with experts around the world to determine a new name for the virus.

Last week a group of more than 30 international scientists published a letter highlighting the “urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising” name, BBC reported.