Monkeypox found in Hill County

Staff and wire report

Hill County Health Department announced in a release late this morning that a single case of presumptive monkeypox virus has been confirmed in a Hill County adult.

The release said initial testing was competed Monday at the Montana State Public Health Laboratory and confirmatory testing will take place with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades, with the disease spreading to other areas including the U.S. at times.

Outbreaks of monkeypox were identified in Europe and North America, including the United States.

As of Friday, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reported three cases had been confirmed in the state, prior to Monday’s Hill County report.

The release said DPHHS is working closely with local public health and the patient’s health care provider to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the Hill County patient while they were infectious. The local public health jurisdiction is performing contact tracing and will communicate with people identified as a close contact. The patient did not require hospitalization and is isolating at home.

To protect patient confidentiality, no further details related to the patient will be disclosed, the release said.

Symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and a rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, the release said.

Monkeypox does not easily spread between people with casual contact, but transmission can occur through contact with infectious sores and body fluids; contaminated items, such as clothing or bedding; or through respiratory droplets associated with prolonged face-to-face contact. According to current data, the monkeypox virus is spreading mostly through close, intimate contact with someone who has the virus.

The illness typically lasts two to four weeks and most people get better on their own without treatment. At times, monkeypox can cause scars from the sores, the development of secondary infections, such as pneumonia, or other complications.

There is no treatment specifically for monkeypox, but because monkeypox and smallpox viruses are closely related, antiviral drugs — such as tecovirimat — and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections.

The need for treatment will depend on how sick someone gets or whether they are likely to get severely ill. CDC does not recommend widespread vaccination against monkeypox at this time; however, vaccination may be recommended for some people who have been exposed to the monkeypox virus.

Anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their health care provider, even if they don’t think they had contact with someone who has monkeypox.

A person who is sick with monkeypox should isolate at home. If they have an active rash or other symptoms, they should be in a separate room or area from other family members and pets, when possible.