Additional monkey diseases known in the residents of the province

Additional monkey diseases known in the residents of the province

September 27, 2022

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) is notifying Wyoming residents of more cases of monkeypox in the past few days.

New cases were confirmed in a Natrona County adult and a Campbell County adult. The cases are unrelated and the additional risk to local communities is not considered to be significantly increased at this time.

Monkey disease is characterized by a rash along with other symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. Monkey disease is rarely fatal, but it is unpleasant and painful and can cause serious illness in some people.

Monkey disease is spread through close, intimate contact. Measures to reduce the risk of monkeypox include:

• Talk to close partners about the symptoms of shingles and be aware of any new or unknown rashes or sores. Anyone who has symptoms of genital warts or has a new or unexplained rash should not have sex and should see a health care provider.
• To reduce the risk of exposure, consider limiting the number of single or anonymous sexual partners.
• Condoms can provide some protection against genital warts, but they cannot prevent all exposures because the rash can spread to other parts of the body.

WDH recommends the vaccine for people exposed to monkeypox and those who may be exposed to the virus. People who live or work in Wyoming who are eligible for the pre-exposure vaccination include:

• Men who have had sex with men and who have had multiple or unknown sexual partners in the past year
• Partners of men who had sex with men who had multiple or unknown sexual partners in the past year
• Transgender and non-binary people were classified as male who had sex with multiple or unknown sexual partners in the past year, if they were classified at birth.
• Sex workers (any gender)

Eligible individuals seeking vaccination appointments should contact their public health office. Contact information for county public health offices is available at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/nursing/phn-co-offices/. Wyoming residents can call WDH at 307-777-6004 to find the nearest public health office.

Detailed facts and advice, including emergency photos, are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html.

Additional information and monkey disease updates related to Wyoming can be found at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/monkeypox/.