Camden County
health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention have confirmed the county's
first case of monkeypox, bringing the state total to at least seven.
The county Health Department says the person was traveling out of state and is
now isolating at home. Those identified as close contacts were notified and are
currently receiving treatment and vaccines.
"I anticipate
that we're going to see more cases,” says Dr. Henry Redel, chief of infectious
disease at Saint Peter's University Hospital. “I don't anticipate it is going
to be as dramatic increase as we saw with the coronavirus."
Symptoms of
monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle ache, chills and a pimple or
blister-like rash.
"It's just
another thing to worry about,” says Vania
Khan, of Edison. “I really haven't heard
about it and now that I know about it, I feel it's kind of scary."
Monkeypox is spread
through direct contact with the infectious rash, respiratory secretions during
prolonged, face-to-face contact or during intimate physical contact,
touching items (such as clothing or linens) that previously touched the
infectious rash or body fluids or pregnant people can spread the virus to their
fetus through the placenta.
A vaccine can be
used for high-risk contacts of an infected person and an antiviral treatment is
available for patients with monkeypox.
So far, there have
been no deaths connected to monkeypox in the U.S.