Monkeypox in Illinois: Chicago man who recently traveled to Europe is state’s 1st probable case

An preliminary check at an IDPH laboratory yielded a constructive orthopoxvirus end result, and confirmatory testing is pending on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC).

“Chicago being a really massive worldwide hub for journey,” mentioned Dr. Irfan Hafiz, chief medical officer for Northwestern Medication Northwest Area. “It was inevitable that we might see a case or two, presumably extra, in Chicago.”

Not like COVID-19, which is a brand new virus, monkeypox has been round because the Fifties and the vast majority of instances come from central and west Africa.

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However because the begin of the 12 months, the CDC has recognized 22 instances of monkeypox in 19 states on this nation. And whereas this can be a first in Illinois, medical doctors say they don’t count on a widespread outbreak.

“Regardless that it isn’t more likely to be transmitted to a lot of folks like COVID, the folks that get it may be fairly sick,” mentioned Dr. John Segreti, an epidemiologist at Rush College Medical Heart.

Signs embody rashes, sores and lesions that usually look extreme, in addition to fever and muscle aches. In a joint assertion the state and metropolis well being departments say “The particular person didn’t require hospitalization and is isolating at house in good situation.”

Docs say monkeypox is mostly unfold by skin-to-skin contact, although it will also be handed via contaminated clothes or bedding. And whereas it might make sufferers very sick, it isn’t often deadly.

Docs say the smallpox vaccine typically works to guard from monkey pox, and there are additionally anti-viral medicine in the marketplace to deal with the virus as soon as a affected person has it.

“You are not gonna get if from strolling previous somebody or seeing them on a bus,” Segreti mentioned. “You must have very shut contact with somebody.”

Public well being officers say there’s little or no to no threat to those that haven’t been in shut bodily contact with the Illinois monkeypox affected person. They’re within the technique of doing contact tracing to establish those that might have been near the affected person.

“I do not suppose we’ll see a whole lot of instances, however perhaps just a few dozen instances,” Segreti mentioned.

Most monkeypox sufferers expertise solely fever, physique aches, chills and fatigue. Individuals with extra critical sickness might develop a rash and lesions on the face and fingers that may unfold to different components of the physique. No deaths have been reported within the present outbreak past Africa.

Not like with COVID-19, the prospect of asymptomatic unfold of monkeypox is taken into account low. With this Illinois case, officers say they’re conducting contact tracing. However for now, there is not any indication of great unfold.