Two San Diego County residents have tested positive for monkeypox after traveling internationally, though their infections have not been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The county health department confirmed the infections in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, indicating that both are doing well enough to avoid hospital stays.
Dr. Seema Shah, medical director of the county’s epidemiology department, said details such as exactly where the region’s first two monkeypox patients traveled, their gender and age, and precisely when the county was notified of preliminary positive test results, are not being released.
“I’m trying to be respectful of these individuals and their privacy,” Shah said.
Generally spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone with monkeypox, but not known to linger in the air like many respiratory viruses do, transmission is considered significantly more difficult than is the case for coronavirus or influenza.
The distinctive rash that gives the disease its name generally appears about three days after patients begin running a fever, and Shah said rashes were the telltale symptoms that caused both patients to seek medical attention.
She said that testing and notification all occurred on the same day.
“From my perspective, the process that needed to take place all happened in a critically short period of time,” Shah said.
In addition to rash and fever, monkeypox symptoms include: headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
