In humans, the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than the symptoms of monkeypox. Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion. The main difference between the symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), while smallpox does not. The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7 to 14 days, but can range from 5 to 21 days.
Suspected monkeypox cases are being investigated in four states in the United States as part of the ongoing monkeypox outbreak, which has spread to 16 countries, mostly European, where the disease is not normally found. Monkeypox is a rare disease usually found in Central and West Africa, where it kills up to 1 in 10 people who contract it, according to the CDC. However, the strain involved in the current outbreak has a fatality rate of less than 1%, NBC News medical correspondent Dr. Natalie Azar said TODAY Tuesday.
The symptoms of monkeypox are similar to those of smallpox, such as fever, headaches, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion, and rash, but it is much less contagious than smallpox. There is no specific treatment for monkeypox, but smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and other treatments can be used to control an outbreak. Monkeypox virus usually spreads when a person comes into contact with an animal, human, or material infected with the virus. Most person-to-person transmission is thought to spread through large respiratory droplets due to prolonged face-to-face contact, according to the CDC.
It is also possible for monkeypox to spread through contact with an injury caused by a rash or body fluids. Seale added that the cases have often been linked to travel and close contact, possibly through sexual contact. We're still in the early days of this outbreak, so we're still learning a lot. He went on to emphasize that monkeypox is not a disease of homosexuals.
Anyone can get monkeypox from close contact. The CDC said in a health alert Friday that the current risk to the United States public is low, and President Joe Biden said over the weekend that he does not think monkeypox will increase to a level of concern consistent with COVID-19, stressing that vaccines are available to prevent infection. Lewis described the chronology of how monkeypox symptoms progress to help identify possible cases of monkeypox. Keep in mind that symptoms of monkeypox usually begin to appear one to two weeks after exposure, but the incubation period can be as short as five days or as long as 21 days.
The rash sometimes looks like chickenpox, syphilis, or herpes. It usually extends from the face to the limbs, hands, feet, and then to the rest of the body, WHO officials said. However, disease experts have identified a pattern among recent cases. The rash tends to evolve from lesions with a flat base, known as the macula, to firm, slightly raised lesions, known as papules.
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