Appeared in many men associated with travel
Global threat from indigenous African diseases
Smallpox vaccine used as a treatment
The Georgia Department of Health has announced the first likely case of monkeypox in Georgia.
The GDPH said the suspected case is in a metro Atlanta man who has a history of international travel. The man has tested positive for the orthopoxvirus, which is associated with smallpox and monkeypox.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting confirmatory testing to determine if the virus is monkeypox.
In the meantime, the man is being monitored and officials are doing contact tracing.
Symptoms of monkey chickenpox (pox) include fever, headache, back pain, muscle pain, and low energy, and may cause rashes and lesions on the face or genitals. The disease can be fatal in up to 11% of infected people.
There is no known cure for the virus, but smallpox vaccines and antiviral treatments can be used to control the outbreak, and health officials are also saying monkey chickenpox is much less contagious than coronavirus and poses a lower risk to the public.
Many cases have been travel-related and have occurred in men, and the disease is endemic to Africa and has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond the continent .
