MIAMI, United States. — South Florida health authorities reported Monday a possible second case of monkeypox in Broward County, north of Miami-Dade.
The news was released just one day after a suspected first case was identified in that same county.
According to local media, officials have identified, located and isolated the patient and are attempting to trace possible contacts to identify anyone potentially exposed to the pathogen.
The possible second case of monkeypox is presumed to be linked to foreign travel.
“It is a virus that is usually found in parts of Africa (…) It is normally an animal-to-human transmission, but there may be cases of human-to-human transmission,” said Dr. Sarah LaRosa in statements collected by the chain WPLG.
The specialist, medical director of the emergency department of the HCA University Hospital (Davie County) warned that, although the virus is not very contagious, it can be dangerous.
Fever and flu-like symptoms
LaRosa said to WPLG that the effects of the virus usually start with a fever and other flu-like symptoms, and end up developing into a skin rash, also known as a rash.
For his part, Dr. Joshua Lenchus, acting chief medical officer at Broward Health, called monkeypox “significantly less infectious” than the COVID-19although he referred that the isolation and contact tracing measures are similar.
“We use the same type of mechanisms and methods of contact tracing that we use during COVID when you are exposed to another person and then you get it,” Lenchus told the television station.
The United States already had an outbreak of monkeypox in 2003, when infected rodents imported from Africa as pets spread the virus to numerous dogs, which then infected people in the west and center of the country. On that occasion, 35 cases were confirmed in six states, with no deaths to be regretted.
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