CANTON, New York (WWNY) – Don’t panic. That’s what St. Lawrence County health officials are telling residents after the county confirmed its first case of monkeypox.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are a total of 929 cases of monkeypox across the United States.
New York state has 359 cases, with one of them recorded in St. Lawrence County.
Monkeypox is an infectious viral disease that in some ways is similar to smallpox. But, monkeypox has lower death and transmission rates.
The county’s first case was announced Tuesday.
“One of our residents did notice that they developed some symptoms and they did the right thing and saw care with their healthcare provider. Currently, all monkeypox tests have to be approved by the local health department, so their provider contacted us and we helped to authorize the specimen to be transferred down to Wadsworth, which is their laboratory in Albany,” said St. Lawrence County Public Health Director Jolene Munger.
Monkeypox is typically spread through close contact and by respiratory droplets.
Symptoms for monkeypox include fever, headaches, muscle pain, blistering rashes, and swollen lymph nodes.
These symptoms can develop 5 to 21 days after exposure.
Munger stresses that monkeypox is nothing like Covid-19 and the pandemic we’re recovering from and that residents should not panic.
“Most of the time, monkeypox will go away on its own. There are different palliative treatments, so keeping areas clean, staying hydrated, making sure you’re taking something if you have a fever to reduce your fever, but a lot of it is keeping the sores clean,” she said.
Munger says anyone who has monkeypox symptoms should contact their health provider immediately.
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