STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — 10 positive monkeypox cases have been reported in New York City, the city’s Health Department said Thursday on its official Twitter page.
The Health Department detailed that the latest cases are primarily spreading among men who have sex with men. “This group is now at greater risk of exposure,” the agency added.
The CDC has increased its its monkeypox alert to Level 2 and advises people to “practice enhanced precautions.”
As of Wednesday, there were 40 cases of monkeypox in the United States. In 29 different countries there are currently 1,200 cases reported, according to the CDC.
Monkeypox is rare in the United States, according to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because it doesn’t occur naturally here. Any confirmed cases in the country are typically associated with international travel or animal imports from areas where the disease is more common.
The virus is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The tally of infections in the U.S. has climbed to 22 cases, according to the CDC.
“The majority of transmission of monkeypox is through direct contact with lesions, blood or bodily fluids,’’ Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, director of global health at Staten Island University Hospital, previously told the Advance/SiLive.com.
“The monkeypox rash is most prevalent on the face, arms, legs, hands and feet,” the doctor added.
The symptoms of monkeypox are similar to, but milder than the symptoms of smallpox, the CDC said. Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion.
The disease was first discovered in 1958, when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the CDC.
