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Virginia health officials said in a press release the woman recently traveled to an African country where the disease is present. Though, they added, she was not infectious during her travels and has quarantined since returning home. They are not releasing any more information to protect her privacy.
“Monkeypox is a very rare disease in the United States. The patient is currently isolating and does not pose a risk to the public.” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Colin M. Greene. “Transmission requires close contact with someone with symptomatic monkeypox, and this virus has not shown the ability to spread rapidly in the general population."
Virginia joins California, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Utah and Washington as states with a documented case of monkeypox. Though despite the growing numbers, health experts caution that the risk to the public is very low right now.
The only way to catch the illness is through direct contact with an infected person or animal, the health department said. Symptoms of monkey pox include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and swelling of the lymph nodes. Then a rash, usually beginning on the face, will break out and spread across the body.
Monkey pox can cause severe illness and even death. Though, there are no deaths so far from this current outbreak of monkey pox, CNN reported.
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