2 monkeypox cases now confirmed in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS -- Another monkeypox case has been confirmed in Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, there are now two confirmed cases of monkeypox as of Tuesday.
The second case, like the first, was identified in a man from the Twin Cities area who appears to have caught the disease while traveling outside Minnesota. However, unlike the first case, the second man was not traveling internationally.
"While we do expect to see some additional cases in the next few days or weeks, it's important to remember that monkeypox is not as infectious and does not spread in the same way as COVID or influenza, but requires skin-to-skin contact or prolonged face-to-face contact, exchange of body fluids, etc.," MDH said.
In the first case, the infected person received outpatient care, and the health department is conducting contact tracing. Officials don't believe he's spread the disease to anyone else.
The disease originated in Africa and since the beginning of May, more than 4,000 cases have been reported in 47 countries around the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, monkeypox has been recently detected "in several countries that don't normally report monkeypox, including the United States." Cases have been found in 26 states besides Minnesota in connection with the latest outbreak.
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, head and muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and a rash that looks like pimples or blisters. It's also possible to contract the virus and show no symptoms.
According to the health department, most people recover from the virus in two to four weeks with no treatment, but in rare cases, monkeypox can be fatal. However, Dr. Richard Kennedy with the Mayo Clinic says the mortality rate for the disease is comparatively low.
