Monkeypox appears in Sarasota County

“Most patients do not have to be hospitalized and can safely recover at home,” she said. “With monkeypox on the rise around the state, we’re stepping up our education, preparedness and response plans.”

Savage said the hospital is sharing CDC materials for patients along with “infection control protocols and guidelines to help our staff identify, screen, triage and test patients.”

Through July 25, there were 18,095 cases of the disease worldwide in 75 countries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states, with the vast majority of them in 69 countries with no history of reporting it.

There were 3,487 confirmed U.S. cases in 45 states as of that date, according to the CDC, with 273 of them in Florida.

Only New York (990 cases), California (356 cases) and Illinois (344 cases) had more.

The state Department of Health reported 310 probable and confirmed cases as of July 25, listing the case in Sarasota as “probable.”

It has, in fact, been confirmed, according to DOH-Sarasota Public Information Officer Steve Huard.

Privacy restrictions prevented him from providing any information about the infected person, he said.

Sarasota County is one of 15 of the state’s 67 counties with monkeypox cases, FLHealthCharts.gov shows. Broward County had 151 as of July 25, and Miami-Dade County had 82.

Other cases have been largely confined to the Interstate 4 corridor, Huard said, and will probably stay that way.

The only deaths from the disease have occurred in countries where it’s endemic, a news release from the West Central Florida County Health Departments states.

DOH-Sarasota is one of the 10 health departments in the group.

The departments will investigate cases as they occur “to notify possible exposures and offer potential post-exposure prophylaxis,” the release says.

“The risk of monkeypox to the general population remains low,” it states.

Unlike COVID-19, monkeypox isn’t readily transmissible.

“Human-to-human transmission generally requires prolonged, face-to-face contact, direct contact with lesion materials or indirect contact with lesion materials through contaminated items, such as contaminated clothing,” according to the release.

There is an effective vaccine against monkeypox, which the departments are making available when they get it from the federal government, it states. It can be administered up to 14 days after exposure.

DOH-Sarasota has a small amount of vaccine that’s available for those at high risk, Huard said, but people should go through their doctor first, as should anyone experiencing symptoms.

“Commercial labs and private providers are able to do testing,” he said. “We recommend that those who do not have a health care provider make an appointment with MCR Health, 941-867-0125, or CenterPlace Health, 941-529-0200 for testing and treatment.”

Initial symptoms of the disease include fever, chills, headache, tiredness, muscle aches and swelling of the lymph nodes, progressing to a rash on the face and body, according to FloridaHealth.gov.

Symptoms generally appear between 5 and 21 days after infection, which lasts from two to four weeks, the website states. Infected people should isolate as much as possible, DOH advises.

A physician may prescribe antiviral medications used to treat smallpox.

More information on monkeypox is available at FloridaHealth.gov. Case data on reportable diseases is at FLHealthCharts.gov.