NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Two Californians diagnosed with mpox may be the first U.S. cases resulting from the local spread of a different version of the virus, health officials said. <\/p>\n
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services this week confirmed the first case through testing at a state lab. Los Angeles County health officials on Thursday reported a second, similar case. <\/p>\n
Officials say the risk to the public is low.<\/p>\n
These are not the U.S. first cases of what is known as clade I mpox. But all six previous cases were among international travelers who were believed to have been infected abroad.<\/p>\n
Both infected people in California were hospitalized, and they are now recovering at home. Officials declined to give other details.<\/p>\n
Long Beach is located in Los Angeles County but has its own city health department. Investigators there say they have not found a close contact who traveled abroad, nor have they confirmed additional cases. A few of the person’s close contacts have been given a vaccine, said Nora Balanji, the Long Beach department\u2019s communicable disease coordinator.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have any proof that there has been ongoing community transmission,\u201d she said. “It\u2019s something we\u2019re looking into. That\u2019s something we\u2019re concerned about.”<\/p>\n
Mpox<\/a> \u2014 also known as monkeypox \u2014 is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that is in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa.<\/p>\n Milder symptoms can include fever, chills and body aches. In more serious cases, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.<\/p>\n One version of the virus \u2014 called clade II \u2014 was the source of an international health crisis in 2022, when infections escalated in dozens of countries, mostly among men who have sex with men. At one point, the U.S. was averaging<\/a> close to 500 cases per day.<\/p>\n The infections were rarely fatal, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks. Those outbreaks waned later that year<\/a>, thanks in part to the Jynneos vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic.<\/p>\n The other version \u2014 known as clade I \u2014 likewise can spread through sex, but also through other forms of contact. In Africa it has infected a broader range of people, including children.<\/p>\n