Lancaster County has reported its first case of monkeypox.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department said Tuesday the person was a male in his 30s with a history of travel outside of Nebraska. He is self-isolating at home and the Health Department is investigating potential close contacts and will notify anyone who may have been exposed.
The case is considered a presumptive case at this point, with further testing being done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the diagnosis.
The Lancaster County case is at least the fourth case of the disease discovered in Nebraska to date. Douglas County reported the other three cases.
Monkeypox is caused by a virus similar to that which causes smallpox, although it is usually milder. In addition to a rash that produces pimples or blisters, symptoms of the disease may include fever, headache, and body aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue.
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The disease is usually spread through skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, although it can be spread through body fluids.
The Department of Health said the risk to the public was low, but anyone with symptoms should see a health care provider.
The Nebraska cases are part of one of the largest outbreaks of the disease in the United States. As of Monday, the CDC had confirmed more than 1,800 cases in 45 states. Worldwide, nearly 13,000 cases have been diagnosed in the past two months alone.
Third suspected case of monkeypox identified in Douglas County
Douglas County reports second suspected case of monkeypox
Nebraska reports first case of monkeypox
What is monkeypox and where is it spread?
What is monkey pox?
Monkeypox is a virus that comes from wild animals like rodents and primates, and sometimes jumps to humans. Most human cases have occurred in central and western Africa, where the disease is endemic.
The disease was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in research monkeys – hence the name monkeypox. The first known human infection dates back to 1970, in a 9-year-old boy in a remote region of Congo.
Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP
What are the symptoms and how is it treated?
Monkeypox belongs to the same virus family as smallpox but causes milder symptoms.
Most patients experience only fever, body aches, chills, and fatigue. People with more severe illness may develop a rash and sores on the face and hands that may spread to other parts of the body.
The incubation period is about five days to three weeks. Most people recover in about two to four weeks without needing to be hospitalized.
Monkeypox can be fatal for up to 1 in 10 people and is thought to be more serious in children.
People exposed to the virus often receive one of several smallpox vaccines, which have been shown to be effective against monkeypox. Antiviral drugs are also being developed.
On Thursday, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recommended that all suspected cases be isolated and high-risk contacts offered the smallpox vaccine.
AP photo/Janet Hostetter
How many cases of monkeypox are there usually?
The World Health Organization estimates that there are thousands of monkeypox infections in a dozen African countries each year. Most are in Congo, which reports around 6,000 cases per year, and Nigeria, with around 3,000 cases per year.
Patchy health surveillance systems mean many infected people are likely to be missed, experts say.
Isolated cases of monkeypox are sometimes spotted outside of Africa, especially in the United States and Great Britain. Cases are usually associated with travel to Africa or contact with animals from areas where the disease is more common.
In 2003, 47 people in six US states had confirmed or probable cases. They caught the virus from pet prairie dogs that were housed near small mammals imported from Ghana.
AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File
How are these cases different?
This is the first time that monkeypox appears to have spread among people who have not traveled to Africa.
In Europe, infections have been reported in Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Most cases involve men who have had sex with men.
The UK Health Security Agency has said its cases are not all linked, suggesting there are multiple chains of transmission.
The infections in Portugal were detected at a sexual health clinic, where the men sought help for lesions on their genitals.
On Wednesday, US officials reported a case of monkeypox in a man who had recently traveled to Canada, where authorities are investigating possible infections.
AP Photo/Allen Sullivan
Is monkeypox sexually transmitted?
It’s possible, but it’s not clear at the moment.
Monkeypox has not previously been documented to be spread sexually, but it can be transmitted through close contact with infected people, their bodily fluids, and their clothing or bedding.
Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, said it was still too early to determine how men in the UK became infected.
“By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact, which would be expected to increase the likelihood of transmission, regardless of a person’s sexual orientation and regardless of the mode of transmission,” Skinner said.
Francois Balloux of University College London said monkeypox said sex was the type of close contact needed to transmit the disease.
The UK cases “do not necessarily imply a recent change in the route of transmission of the virus”, Balloux said.
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Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.
Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP
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