After announcing in July one presumptive case of monkeypox in Oak Park, village officials confirmed that one and said Tuesday there are three more confirmed and three additional presumed infections.
“Earlier this month Gov. Pritzker declared MPV (monkeypox virus) a public health emergency, and the Oak Park Health Department is joining public health departments across the state in sharing information about the virus,” village interim spokesman Erik Jacobsen stated in an email to Pioneer Press Tuesday. “The Oak Park Health Department is posting weekly updates and information about MPV on the Village website at www.oak-park.us/communicable-diseases with the goal of informing, educating and providing messages and resources to the community to help contain the spread of MPV.”
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On July 26, the Oak Park Health Department posted on the village website that the first presumptive case of monkeypox had been reported in the west suburb. Lab results were then pending confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jacobsen stated in his email Tuesday that the case was positively confirmed to be the highly contagious virus.
The one person infected in the reported July case was isolated, and their close contacts were identified by the Oak Park Health Department. They were to be offered a post-exposure vaccination, which the CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health recommend, officials explained.
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Nationally, monkeypox has been declared a health emergency. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported a total of 18,417 cases of monkeypox in the U.S. Illinois reportedly has about 1,058 cases.
Oak Park cases will be adding to that national count, with Jacobsen stating there are reports of three presumptive cases of monkeypox in town and three confirmed.
“While MPV is a rare disease and does not spread easily between people without close contact, health officials urge the general public to be aware of the small but growing number of cases that have been identified. The threat of MPV to the general U.S. population remains low,” Jacobsen wrote.
The village health department learns about instances of MPV infections by getting a call from a physician whose patient has a suspected case. OPHD then works with the state health department to track the status of that suspected case, as lab tests are processed, officials explained.
“While the Health Department cannot share details about individual cases, it can confirm that MPV is spreading mostly through close contact with someone who has the virus,” Jacobsen wrote.
Officials explained that the monkeypox virus can spread through direct person-to-person contact with the infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It also can be spread through respiratory secretions from face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling and sex.
Additionally, contact with items like clothing or linens that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids is another way monkeypox spreads. The virus can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed, officials explained.
Village public health officials stated on the Oak Park website that infection typically begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a rash on the face and body.
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Symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a rash that looks like pimples or blisters — which can appear on the face, inside the mouth and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals or anus, according to public health officials.
A vaccine is available to prevent the spread of monkeypox — for which there is no cure, according to public health officials. OPHD officials state that data indicates the vaccine is about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox.
According to the OPHD website, the health department connected some 14 people with a vaccine between July 27 and Aug. 24, with eligibility for it limited due to supply constraints: “Currently, the vaccination is available for individuals 18 and older who have had close contact with someone diagnosed with MPV or who are in populations among which MPV is spreading. Presently, the virus is circulating among men who have sex with men.”
