First monkeypox case reported in San Francisco
San Francisco has seen its first probable case of monkeypox, part of a global outbreak that now involves nearly 800 people, mostly gay and bisexual men, the Department of Public Health announced Friday evening, June 3.The health department said the person had recently traveled to a location experiencing an outbreak, but gave no further details about the case.
The individual is in isolation and has reported no close contacts in San Francisco during the period when they could have spread the virus."The risk to the general population from this virus is believed to be low as the known cause of spread is prolonged contact and bodily fluids," the health department said in a statement. "Having close physical contact, including sex, with multiple people can put a person at higher risk for monkeypox."In a media briefing earlier the same day, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 20 monkeypox cases had been reported in 11 states — a number that rose to 25 by that afternoon (click here for the latest CDC numbers).
All but one are men, and most have a recent history of international travel. In California, three confirmed or suspected cases have been identified in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles, in addition to the new San Francisco case.CDC officer Captain Jennifer McQuiston told reporters that it is not clear how long monkeypox has been circulating in the U.S., and there "could be community-level transmission" that has not yet been identified.The first case in the ongoing outbreak was reported May 7 in the United Kingdom.
As of June 4, the World Health Organization has identified 780 confirmed cases in 27 countries where the virus is not endemic, with high numbers in several European countries and Canada..
