FILE – This color electron microscopy image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows mpox particles (red) found within infected cells, and blue cultured in a laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. A study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Control and Prevention, Thursday, May 25, 2023, suggests that dozens of US cities are at risk of mpox outbreaks this summer. Health officials said they were working to prevent an epidemic on a scale that stunned the nation last summer. (NIAID via AP, File)
ST. Lewis County, Missouri – Health officials confirmed the first mpx case in St. Louis County this year.
The St. Louis County Public Health Department said the patient is a resident of St. Louis County and likely contracted mpox through sexual contact. The patient had also not received previous mpox vaccination.
Health officials are working to determine who the patient may have been in contact with during the outbreak. The county’s first cases follow a spike in mpox cases confirmed in the Chicago area last month.
A total of 42 mpox cases were confirmed in St. Louis County last year, with the first reported in late July and the last in late November. The St. Louis County Health Department said the recent increase in mpox cases observed nationwide suggests a possible resurgence of mpox in the St. Louis area.
MPOX, clinically renamed last year to be called orthopox, belongs to the same virus family as smallpox. Its symptoms are similar to smallpox, but milder. It’s important to know that mpox can be fatal in rare cases. Vaccines and treatments for infected people have long been established.
According to the CDC, the mpox virus was discovered in monkeys kept for research in 1958. Although the virus got its name from its discovery, the actual origin of mpox is unknown.
The first human case of mpox infection was recorded in 1970 in a child living in a remote rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mpox symptoms appear within 7 to 14 days after exposure. The disease itself lasts 2-4 weeks.
Symptoms include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, back pain, chills, and fatigue. A pimple-like, blistered rash appears on the infected person’s face and mouth, and eventually spreads throughout the body.
The virus can spread between the time symptoms appear and the rash itself completely heals.
Mpox is spread through person-to-person contact, including but not limited to:
- Direct contact with infectious rashes, scabs, or bodily fluids.
- Respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or during intimate physical contact such as kissing, cuddling or sex.and
- Touching items (such as clothing or linens) that have previously come in contact with infectious rashes or body fluids.
Infected pregnant women can also spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.
