S.F., Alameda counties report 4 monkeypox cases

San Francisco on Thursday reported three additional cases of probable monkeypox as Alameda County announced its first likely infection, bringing the Bay Area total to five cases amid a rapidly growing global outbreak.

The Alameda County case is in an individual who had close contact with someone who had earlier tested positive for the virus. In the San Francisco cases reported Thursday, one person had recently traveled within the U.S., but the other two did not.

“All three individuals are in isolation and in good health condition,” the San Francisco Department of Public Health said in a statement.

As of Thursday morning, before the new cases were announced, eight probable or confirmed infections had been reported in California. The first Bay Area case was reported last Friday in a San Francisco resident. At least 40 cases have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Bay Area residents have all tested positive for orthopox, an umbrella group of viruses that includes monkeypox, health officials said Thursday. Preliminary testing was done by the California Department of Public Health in a state laboratory, and further testing by the CDC likely will confirm that the infections are monkeypox within a few days, officials said.

The cases are part of a global outbreak that took off this spring. There have been roughly 1,000 cases reported across more than two dozen countries, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the cases have been in men, and in particular men who identify as gay or bisexual. Officials in San Francisco and Alameda counties did not say if the suspected cases were in male or female residents.

The risk to the public remains low, local health officials said. Monkeypox spreads through direct, close contact, and many cases in the current outbreak are thought to have spread during sex or between intimate partners. The virus can spread through respiratory droplets or contact with contaminated clothes or bedding.

Monkeypox is generally identified through a rash with raised skin lesions that fill with fluid; it’s through those lesions that the infection is usually spread. Other symptoms include fever and body aches.

“It is vital that a person who suspects they have monkeypox or are experiencing symptoms contact their health care provider right away,” Dr. Kavita Trivedi, Alameda County communicable disease controller, said in a statement.

Monkeypox is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox, though it generally causes milder disease and most people recover fully without treatment. There are no federally approved drugs to specifically treat monkeypox, but two vaccines — made by two different manufacturers — can prevent infection, including after exposure.

“After more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we understand how weary residents are,” Trivedi said. “But this isn’t COVID, and we have the tools and knowledge necessary to protect ourselves and each other.”