Des Moines, Iowa — We told you over the holiday weekend that the first probable case of monkeypox was discovered in Iowa. That case has now been confirmed through testing to be monkeypox.
Public health officials announced at 10 p.m. Friday that an adult in north-central Iowa has a probable case of monkeypox. According to the news release, the patient was likely infected during international travels, is isolating and receiving outpatient care. Contact tracing is being conducted with people who had direct close contact with the patient and they are being offered a vaccine that can prevent symptoms from developing or severe illness. Public health officials say the virus does not spread easily and most who are contracting the virus in the U.S. have had inmate, or sexual contact with someone who has the virus.
More than 460 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 32 states. A monkeypox infection in a human was first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. This latest outbreak started in May, as cases were identified in the UK, Spain, and Europe. Over 57 hundred cases have been reported worldwide.
