A man in Colorado has become the state’s second presumptive case of monkeypox, bringing the US total to 12, local health authorities reported.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Public Health Laboratory reported on Friday evening that the young man had recently come into contact with a person who had travelled to Canada and is suspected to be the area’s first case of the virus.
“The new presumptive case is a young adult male who sought care in the Denver area and is improving and isolating at home,” the local health agency reported, before noting that the case is still awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On the CDC’s monkeypox tracker database, however, it appears that the health agency has confirmed the mountain state’s two presumptive positive cases, as it now lists the country’s tally at 12 cases nationally.
Outside of Colorado, there are two cases each in California, Utah, and Florida, while Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Virginia are all still reporting just one case.
Across the globe, the World Health Organisation reports that there are more than 200 cases of the virus and it’s been detected in more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Australia, Israel and the UK, where, as of 27 May, had recorded 106 positives.
Though the risk to the general population is low, officials around the world are keeping a close eye on the spread of the virus, particularly because the disease is getting picked up by people who haven’t travelled to Africa where monkeypox is endemic.
Most of the people who have tested positive for the virus, which was first identified in 1958 and already has a vaccine that can be used to protect against transmission, have had mild cases, officials say.
Monkeypox also requires very close contact to spread, so it is not likely to prompt big waves of disease like Covid-19, which can be spread through the air by people before they even begin to present symptoms.
The illness typically only lasts anywhere between two to four weeks and children are considered to be the most at risk for severe cases.
Symptoms that people should be on the lookout for include: fever, body aches, chills, fatigue or swelling of the lymph nodes, according to the CDC.
