SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Public Health has identified a second suspected case of Monkeypox in the Sacramento area on Friday.
Officials said the case is likely to have been contracted through close contact with the initial patient that was discovered earlier this week.
Both patients are isolated in their homes to avoid further spread of the virus as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates the newest case following confirmation of the first diagnosis.
Health officials assure the public that despite the new case, transmission rates and risk to the general public remain low.
“This case is a close contact of the initial patient,” said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County Public Health Officer. “The public health investigation is ongoing and additional contact tracing will be conducted.”
According to Sacramento County Public Health, Monkeypox, a flu-like virus in the same family as smallpox, is rarely found in the U.S.
Symptoms of Monkeypox include high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a widespread rash across the face and body. Infections typically last about 2-4 weeks and only one in every 100 cases are fatal, generally only seriously affecting those that are immunocompromised.
According to the CDC, the first human case of Monkeypox was discovered in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The virus has since been tracked on several continents and transmission rates are continuously being investigated by the CDC.
More information about Monkeypox can be found on the CDC website.
Watch more from ABC10: Likely Monkeypox case in Sacramento County currently isolating, not hospitalized
