The Florida Department of Health (DOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a possible case of monkeypox in Broward County.
Broward County's DOH said Sunday the "presumptive" case was likely connected to international travel, and the traveler involved is currently isolated.
"DOH-Broward is conducting epidemiological investigations to notify possible exposures and offer potential post-exposure prophylaxis," said the health department in a statement. "At this time, DOH-Broward has not identified any additional cases."
The term "presumptive" case means the patient has tested positive at the local level, but a national medical body — such as the CDC — has yet to confirm the situation.
The likely monkeypox infection in Florida comes on the heels of the first U.S. case of monkeypox case for 2022, when a Massachusetts man traveling to Canada had his presumptive case confirmed by medical officials.
The Florida case also coincides with the New York state health department confirming a monkeypox infection with a New York City resident.
The vast majority of monkeypox incidents have origins in central and western Africa.
As such, health officials in Europe and North America have reportedly been baffled about the train of transmission with this recent crop of presumptive cases, since none appear to have any links to the central and western African regions.
The CDC has issued a health advisory for physicians to be vigilant of the symptoms, although the public health risk for monkeypox remains relatively low.
The symptoms include: fever, headache, muscle pain, and the characteristic rash that covers the face and body.
According to health officials, the pathogen incubates for about 5-13 days and a person is considered to be contagious upon the onset of symptoms.
The patients are presumed to be infectious until their skin lesions scab over and new, healthy skin has formed.
Over the weekend, health officials had confirmed 92 cases of monkeypox worldwide, with possible links to 28 more suspected cases of the virus.
"Available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring among people in close physical contact with cases who are symptomatic," according to the World Health Organization.
Monkeypox typically gets spread by close contact, so it can be relatively easily contained through such measures as proper hygiene and self-isolation.
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