Local health officials give update on concerns for monkeypox

Hill County saw its first case of monkeypox yesterday, and while the national outbreak of the virus across the U.S. and the world is a cause for concern, it doesn’t appear that the disease is cause for alarm in this region for now.

Dr. Kevin Harada of Northern Montana Health Care said the outbreak is being monitored, but due to the virus’ relatively low rate of spread most people don’t need to worry about it for now.

“Time will tell if this is going to become more of a problem or not, we’re monitoring the situation,” Harada said.

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg said she generally agrees, as the things that people should be doing, washing their hands, covering their mouths when they cough, staying home while they are ill, are all things people should be doing anyway.

The virus that causes monkeypox is closely related to the one that causes smallpox, and is generally transmitted through intimate or prolonged physical contact with other people who’ve been infected.

A release from the Hill County Health Department yesterday said transmission can occur through contact with infectious sores and body fluids; contaminated items, such as clothing or bedding; or through respiratory droplets associated with prolonged face-to-face contact.

According to current data, the monkeypox virus is spreading mostly through close, intimate contact with someone who has the virus.

From a public health perspective Harada and Berg said how the virus spreads compared to COVID-19 limits the number of people someone could get it from, which give public health an advantage in combating it.

Symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and a rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, the release said, and anyone with these symptoms, particularly the rash should seek medical attention and those sick with it should isolate. If they have an active rash or other symptoms, they should be in a separate room or area from other family members and pets, when possible.

Harda and Berg said the outbreak is being tracked by public and private health and Northern Montana Hospital is prepared to deal with cases of monkeypox should it become more widespread.

Harada said based on how things look right now it’s not really something that needs to be on most people’s radar, but Berg cautioned that that could change quickly.

Montana has only seen four cases so far, and, while a patient in Texas with the disease did die Tuesday, it is still unclear if the death was caused by monkeypox, meaning the deaths in the U.S. after 18,417 cases, as of this morning, is at most one.

Despite this, the virus is known to be harder on younger people and people with severe chronic conditions, and Harada and Berg said the former group in particular is one they’re concerned about.

Harada said because younger people tend to have physical contact with more people, the virus would become more difficult to track should it become more prevalent among younger generations.

Berg said it’s not really known how the virus would spread among younger populations because school hasn’t been in since the virus started, and she is concerned about the possibility of more cases among children.

Precautions for high-risk populations

Despite these concerns, it’s generally not enough for people to get monkeypox from someone coughing on them at the grocery store like it is with COVID-19, Harada said, so, for now, unless people are in the demographics the virus is spreading through, no real alterations to behavior are needed at this point to stay safe.

While the virus can infect anyone, it is spreading most rapidly through men who have sex with other men, especially those engaging in “high-risk behavior,” including intimacy with multiple or anonymous partners.

The Centers for Disease Control provides a number of recommendations for how to reduce chances of infection including people limiting their number of partners, using condoms, avoiding kissing, washing hands and even keeping most clothes on during the act.

The biggest recommendation the CDC and Harada gave was to seek vaccination, but in the U.S. supply of the vaccine is limited, in part due to a botched nationwide rollout.

Berg said her department does not have access to the vaccine at the moment but they do have channels through which they can get it if there is enough demand.

She said the department’s website has a questionnaire that can determine whether a person is eligible for the vaccination or not, and if they are, they can be put on a waiting list.

Once that waiting list reaches 10, she said, they can formally request to be sent doses of the vaccine.

Berg said answers to the questionnaire and the results are protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so it will stay between the responder and the department.

Beyond vaccination there is no treatment specifically for monkeypox, but because monkeypox and smallpox viruses are closely related, antiviral drugs such as tecovirimat may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections.

The need for treatment will depend on how sick someone gets or whether they are likely to get severely ill.

Misinformation about monkeypox

Despite the fact that they have little in common from a scientific standpoint, comparisons between COVID-19 and monkeypox are common due to their recent worldwide outbreaks being back to back, but one respect in which they are similar is the amount of misinformation that has been spread about them.

Thankfully, Harada said, because the virus just isn’t that prevalent in Montana he hasn’t seen too much misinformation about it yet.

Berg said the primary myths she sees is that it is a sexually transmitted disease, and that it’s only an issue for gay men, neither of which is true.

While the virus has been most prevalent among men who have sex with men and intimacy is one of main ways it can spread the virus can infect anyone through skin to skin contact.

She said people looking for good information about the virus can go to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services website at https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/cdepi/diseases/monkeypox for more information as well as the Centers for Disease Control’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html .

Berg said that information can sometimes be difficult to sift through so if people have specific questions they can always call her department directly for help.

Harada said NMH is coordinating with Berg’s department as well and if the virus does become more prevalent they will put together some education campaigns to combat some of the misinformation out there.