DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed a second presumptive monkeypox case in the state.
The person who acquired the virus was in close contact with a person known to public health as another presumptive case. The state is waiting for confirmation on the positive case from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new case is in a young man who is seeking care in Denver. The man is improving and isolated at home.
Although this is Colorado’s second presumptive case, CDPHE is reminding people of key facts about monkeypox:
- The risk to the public remains low.
- Monkeypox is rarely fatal, the current version of the virus has a fatality rate of less than 1%.
- There is an effective vaccine that can be administered soon after exposure. The vaccine will lessen the severity of the illness.
- Anyone can get monkeypox.
- Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection but can spread through close contact.
- Brief interactions without physical contact are an unlikely form of transmission.
Monkeypox is primarily spread through close contact with respiratory droplets, bodily fluids or skin lesions. The first presumptive case in Colorado was reported on Thursday.
Colorado is one of 10 states with identified cases, some others include California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia and Washington.