Case of monkeypox confirmed in Orange County | Orlando Area News | Orlando

Last week, the Florida Department of Health confirmed the second case of monkeypox in Central Florida. 

The FDOH reports that the case came from a person in their 30s in Orange County who has not traveled recently. They are being kept in isolation. 

That totals 10 cases in Florida, with South Florida accounting for the majority of reported infections. According to the CDC, there are 99 confirmed cases in all the U.S. The current outbreak has resulted in 2,166 recorded cases in 37 countries. 

Symptoms of monkeypox usually start with the flu with a fever, chills and a headache. Then a distinctive rash can start forming on the face and then move to your body. Monkeypox spreads via direct contact with infectious rashes, surface transmission and eating an infected animal.

According to the CDC, it is very difficult to spread monkeypox without close contact, and the threat of the disease in the US is still very low. The government agency notes that  public should not be alarmed because unlike COVID, it is hard to contract and does not spread easily.

The World Health Organization has started to develop a plan to distribute vaccines to countries that have seen a recent outbreak.