Monkeypox in Winnebago County, same Health Region as the Sauk Valley

ROCKFORD – The first case of the monkeypox virus has been identified in Winnebago County, which is in the nine-county Public Health Region 1 that includes Whiteside, Lee, Ogle and Carroll counties.

The case is consistent with other MPV cases seen in the state, the Winnebago County Health Department said in a news release.

The MPV vaccine is not yet available in the Sauk Valley, but the risk of other residents contracting the virus is low, the Whiteside County Health Department said.

The person in whom it was detected is isolated at home and recovering, and the risk to other county residents is low, the Winnebago health department release said.

The other four counties in Region 1 are Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Boone and DeKalb.

Monekypox has been around for decades, mostly in central and western Africa; it is rarely fatal in developed countries.

As of late last week, there were a little more more than 5,000 cases in the United States, and slightly more than 700 in Illinois.

Health officials remind residents that the monkeypox virus does not spread easily between people. The majority of cases in Illinois and nationwide were spread through direct intimate contact with a rash or sore on someone infected with MPV.

Activities that can spread MPV include kissing, sex, or other activities with skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the MPV virus. It can also spread through clothing, bedding/linens, or other materials used by a person infected with MPV, or through respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, the release said.

MPV can be spread from when symptoms start until all sores have healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. This can take several weeks.

Symptoms can include:

• Fever

• Headache

• Muscle aches and backache

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Chills

• Respiratory symptoms such as a sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough

• A rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus. The rash goes through different stages before healing completely. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.

Sometimes, people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash.

To preventing MPV, people are advised to wash their hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer; avoid skin-to-skin contact with someone with MPV; don’t share bedding, clothing, towels, personal items, or with someone with MPV,; don’t have sex if either of you feel sick or have a rash or sores; and don’t kiss or touch each other’s bodies while you are sick.

Call a healthcare provider if you have new or unexplained rash, sores, or other MPV symptoms.

For more information, go to:

• https://www.wchd.org/disease-control/monkeypox

• https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/monkeypox.html

• https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/outbreak/us-outbreaks.html