Iowa health officials reported the state’s first probable case of monkeypox on Friday, as infectious disease experts warn the state is at risk of losing control of the disease.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said it is conducting contact tracing to identify those who were in direct close contact with the patient.
“The patient was likely infected during international travel and is in isolation, receiving outpatient care and regular contact with health department officials,” the department said in a statement.
States typically test for orthopoxvirus, the family of viruses to which monkeypox belongs, before sending samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmatory testing.
As of Friday, the CDC reported a total of 460 cases of monkeypox in 30 other states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Health officials continue to stress that the risk to the public remains low.
The disease is spread through close contact with an infected animal or person, usually through lesions, body fluids or respiratory droplets. But unlike the coronavirus, monkeypox droplets travel only a few feet and usually require prolonged contact for transmission.
Monkeypox causes swollen lymph nodes, which makes the virus different from other, similar diseases, experts say. Patients also usually first experience symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and fatigue.
Within one to three days of the initial symptoms, infected individuals develop a rash that usually spreads from the head to other parts of the body.
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“The risk to the general public is low, but anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their healthcare provider, even if they don’t think they’ve had contact with someone who has monkeypox,” Department of Iowa Health and Human Services said.
Some jurisdictions have begun administering smallpox vaccines in response to the outbreak. The CDC suggests that the smallpox vaccine is at least 85 percent effective against monkeypox.
“People with direct close contact are being directed to monitor for symptoms of illness and are being offered a series of vaccines that may prevent them from developing symptoms or developing severe illness,” Iowa health officials said. “CDC does not recommend wider use of the vaccine at this time; however, their evaluation of vaccine guidelines is ongoing.
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