Health officials are working to prevent further spread of the monkeypox virus in the United States. So far in Georgia, one person is suspected of having it and is isolating at home.
Investigators at the state Department of Health are coordinating with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm whether the person’s symptoms can be traced to the virus.
The risk to the general population remains low, says infectious disease expert Dr. Jennifer McQuiston. But, it’s critical to identify new cases as quickly as possible to prevent an increase in infections.
“There could be community level transmission that is happening and that’s why we want to really increase our surveillance efforts,” she says. “We want to really encourage physicians that if they see a rash and they’re concerned it might be monkeypox to go ahead and test for that. That’s one of the one of the things that we want to emphasize.”
Most of the current confirmed cases in the U.S. are among men who have sex with men — but officals stress the virus can affect anyone.
