PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. \u2014 The Washington State Department of Health and the University of Washington have detected the clade I mpox virus, also known as monkeypox, in Pierce County wastewater. <\/p>\n
The discovery, made on Sept. 24, has prompted the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state health department to increase wastewater testing.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO | WHO declares global emergency as monkeypox spreads in Africa, calling for urgent aid<\/a><\/p>\n Currently, no patients with clade I mpox have been reported in Pierce County. The CDC reports that six cases of clade I mpox have been identified in the United States, all of which are linked to recent travel to countries experiencing outbreaks. <\/p>\n There has been no sustained transmission of clade I mpox in the U.S.<\/p>\n Dr. James Miller, Health Officer for Tacoma-Pierce County, emphasized the importance of public health vigilance. “This is a rare occurrence, and also a great example of how public health keeps a close eye on disease spread to assess risk and inform the community when needed,” he said. <\/p>\n Dr. Miller reassured the public that the risk remains low and advised individuals with symptoms to consult their healthcare providers.<\/p>\n Healthcare providers are encouraged to consider mpox in patients presenting with a rash consistent with the virus and to evaluate their travel history. All mpox cases should be reported to the Health Department. <\/p>\n Wastewater testing is being used alongside traditional clinical reporting to detect the presence of clade I mpox early.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO | WHO renames monkeypox as mpox due to racism concerns<\/a><\/p>\n The mpox virus spreads through close physical contact, including sexual contact and household interactions, and can be prevented using the same methods for both clade I and clade II. Symptoms include a rash that may appear as bumps, blisters, or ulcers, and flu-like symptoms may precede the rash. <\/p>\n Most individuals recover in two to four weeks, but the disease can be severe for children, pregnant individuals, or those with weakened immune systems.<\/p>\n Residents with new rashes or symptoms should avoid skin-to-skin contact and seek medical advice. A vaccine is available for those at higher risk, and people are encouraged to contact their healthcare providers or visit the health department’s website for vaccination information.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. \u2014 The Washington State Department of Health and the University of Washington have detected the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[13897,97,104326,104327,111436,5599,26494,19784,60802],"class_list":["post-191195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cdc","tag-health","tag-monkeypox","tag-mpox","tag-pierce-county","tag-public-health","tag-symptoms","tag-vaccination","tag-wastewater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}