Well, monkey pox it started off
in humans in Africa in the 1970s,
but the virus pretty much stayed
on that continent for decades.
But earlier this year doctors
say someone traveled with the
virus between Africa and the UK.
It started spreading across
Europe and the rest of the world.
So this week the very first
case of monkeypox popped up in
the Triad in Davidson County.
The individuals isolating and
close contacts have been notified.
The health department could not
tell us more about the person
because of patient privacy reasons,
but the department did have
this strong message for you.
This is not a cause for panic and
this is not a sounding red alarm.
This is hey this has happened. This is here.
So this is here. We all better learn
exactly what it is and how to avoid it.
At this point, almost everyone has seen
that one terrifying picture of monkey pox,
creating what looks like ulcers
all over someone's hands.
But according to the CDC, it could also
look more like pimples or a blister,
at least in the early stages,
before taking over your whole body.
Monkeypox is extremely rare,
but is spreading the World Health
Organization says there are now more than
10,000 cases worldwide the virus started.
In Africa and spread first to Europe,
where most of the cases still are,
but there's been about 1000 cases
in the United States so far.
A global outbreak of monkeypox
is clearly unusual and concerning
in the United States. So far,
most of the spread has been
among gay men, but doctor stress
something particularly unique
about the population that it's
currently affected with affecting,
which is men who are gay, bisexual,
or men who have sex with other men.
Anyone can get monkey *****.
It's just. Right now what we're
seeing is circulation among
this particular social network.
Monkey pox is nowhere near
as contagious as COVID
the RO number, which is it's reproduction
number is still quite low at less than one.
By comparison COVID the overcoat on
family is probably at about 10 or 11,
while the World Health Organization
last week stopped short of calling the
outbreak a global health emergency,
officials insist it is still a threat.
The longer the virus.
Circulates the more it will extend
its reach according to the CDC.
There is no treatment approved specifically
for monkeypox virus infections.
It has to run its course.
Monkey pox is rarely fatal as of last week,
three people had died from the virus.
The vast majority survive,
but the pox can result in lifelong scars.
One other big inconvenience of
getting monkey pox is that it's about
basically 21 days or three weeks
that you were contagious and you
got to isolate from other people.
It starts with lesions that develop
on the tongue and in the mouth on
day one or two of that you actually
start to experience intense headaches,
swollen lymph nodes, back aches,
chills, fever exhaustion, muscle pains,
and a rash that starts to spread.
First, it goes to your face,
then down to your. Arms in your legs.
At that point,
the rash kind of looks sort of like a pimple,
but by the time you get to day
six or seven here, well,
that's when things start to get really ugly.
Those big pus filled bumps,
the worst looking of all the photos we
showed you that will last for another
week before finally scabbing over.
At that point,
then you have to wait one more week
for all those scars to fall off
before you're not contagious anymore.
It is not a super serious sickness.
But monkeypox is a long,
long and painful process to learn how
we can all avoid catching the virus.
I asked the Davidson County Health
Department more about how the virus spreads.
It is only transmitted through or
primarily through that direct physical
contact with somebody who has the rash,
which includes open lesions or sores.
Things like that. So
the amount of the population that may
be affected is probably very small.
Could you tell if someone has monkey pox?
Not necessarily, not just by looking at them.
No, you know and not everybody
would have them on the same spots.
You know, some of them may be on the face,
they may be on other parts
of the body as well.
We be worried about like shaking a
stranger's hand when you meet them for
the first time and not for monkey pox.
No, you know COVID still is an issue,
so you know that yes, but for monkey pox,
no, it's going to be a prolonged.
Physical contact,
you know we're talking about
somebody that you're intimate
with or in a relationship with,
and there is also the contact with
like linens or towels or clothing
that has been worn by somebody that
has an active case of monkeypox
and touch it handling those you
know you want to practice good
hand hygiene and things like that,
so there's no need to panic.
But if someone is still worried,
what is the best way
to protect themselves?
No need to panic if somebody still concerned.
Maybe they have a rash that
they've had for a while.
Talk with your healthcare provider.
You know most? Like I said,
most folks are not going to be impacted
by this right now in any means.
So hopefully that always your fearsome.
The chances of you getting
monkey pucks are pretty rare,
but if you do pick it up,
there is a vaccine to help protect you
from getting a full blown infection.
There are actually 2 vaccines
approved for use in the United States.
There's an ample supply of one of them.
That's a Cam 2000,
but the CDC says this vaccine should
not be used for people who have health
conditions like a weakened immune system,
skin conditions,
or women who are pregnant,
which leaves us with the 2nd.
It's called genius,
which is in short supply activists
like honey, mahogany.
Want to know why that is?
I
don't know what else to say.
We should have learned our lesson back then.
We should have learned our lesson
during COVID and we should be
applying those learned lessons now.
Alright, so here's why they say we have
such little supply of that one vaccine
that is more useful to most people.
It's only produced in Denmark since the
outbreak started spreading countries all
over the world have been trying to get
their hands on some of that vaccine.
the US has ordered some shipments,
but it is taking factories overseas.
More time to catch up.
Right now the United States has about
72,000 doses for our whole country.
80 of those have been sent for use
in the Triad they are being stored at
the Forsyth County Health Department
now leading to the next question,
how do they decide who gets that vaccine?
For starters, you can only get the
shot if you think you've been exposed,
contact the health department and
they will assess your risk level.
So this vaccine will be very
different than COVID,
where you get it after exposure,
not before,
but health experts want you to know.
It does in fact work.
Other topic that we've been talking
about a lot recently is rabies,
and so I'm going to compare it.
There is a post exposure.
It's you know, after you've
had that contact with somebody.
Hopefully getting this vaccine into
your body and teaching your body quickly
how to respond to it and fight it off.
So the bottom line is that your
chances of catching monkey pox pretty
low and there's treatment if you do
this is not another COVID in the making,
but monkey pox can still have some
gross side effects, so it pays to know
how to avoid this virus altogether.