Indiana recorded its first probable case on monkeypox on Sunday, state health officials announced.
According to the Indiana Department of Health, no further information can be released on this specific case due to privacy concerns, but officials noted the patient remains isolated.
Initial testing indicated a positive result, however confirmatory testing is still pending at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on the initial positive result and a preliminary investigation, health officials consider it a probable monkeypox case.
Indiana health officials are currently working to identify anyone with whom the patient had contact while infectious.
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“The risk of monkeypox among the general public continues to be extremely low,” said Indiana Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box. “Monkeypox is rare and does not easily spread through brief casual contact. Please continue to take the same steps you do to protect against any infection, including washing your hands frequently and thoroughly, and check with a healthcare provider if you have any new signs or symptoms.”
Transmission is possible either through skin-to-skin contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores or contaminated items touching a person, or exposure to "respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact."
Typically, monkeypox begins with a fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and exhaustion about five to 21 days after exposure. Within one to three days after a fever arrives, the patient will likely develop a rash, often beginning on the face then spreading across the body.
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Health officials noted that some patients may only develop the rash.
Monkeypox typically lasts for about two to four weeks, IDOH noted. Patients are considered infectious until all scabs from the rash have fallen off.
Thus far in 2022, 113 monkeypox cases have been confirmed in 21 U.S. states and territories, the CDC reported.
For more information on monkeypox, click here.
