The Florida Keys reports first confirmed case of monkeypox

The Florida Keys has its first confirmed case of monkeypox, state Health Department officials said Wednesday.

Alison Kerr, a spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County, said “transmission is primarily” happening with “men who have sex with men,” but officials are urging those who clean hotel rooms in the tourism-dependent Florida Keys to use caution.

“Even those who have exposure to the fabrics — clothing, bedding — of people who have had the infection, are susceptible to contracting the disease,” Kerr said. “So, we’re trying to get the word out to those who change linens or bedding in the hospitality industry. We’re trying to recommend gloves and encouraging them not to have that bedding up against the skin, because that’s another way it can be contracted.”

For now, the general public is not at risk for contracting monkeypox, which has a range of symptoms that include fever, chills, headache, tiredness, muscle aches and swelling of the lymph nodes. Symptoms then progress to a rash on the face and body.

The duration of the illness usually lasts two to four weeks, Kerr said.

Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease spread through semen or sex, according to Northwestern Medicine infectious diseases expert Dr. Robert L. Murphy. But it does affect people who have had close physical contact with the lesions, he said.

It can also be spread during prolonged, face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact, such as kissing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kerr called it a rare disease.

“It’s really transmitted through close contact, specifically sexual contact,” Kerr said. “Sores could be around the genital areas, the anus, some other areas like the feet, chest and face. Right now transmission is primarily MSM, men who have sex with men, and close personal contact, skin to skin contact, especially when it comes to those who have the rash, sores or scabs,” Kerr told the Herald.

The Health Department on Wednesday was in the process of trying to contact anyone with whom the infected person may have had contact.

“So those who have been exposed to that person, we’re working on finding out that as well with contact tracing,” Kerr said.

Citing health privacy laws, Kerr would not say where in the Keys the transmission happened or identify the person, other than to say the person is an adult and a Monroe County resident, she said.

Vaccines are reserved for now

The Health Department has limited supplies of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine, made available this summer to states and jurisdictions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

But they are reserved only for people who have come into contact with people who are infected, Kerr said.

“We are currently vaccinating the most vulnerable population, especially those who were in contact or part of the initial case,” Kerr said.

“We’re not vaccinating the general public who are not among those people we identify as high risk,” she said.

Kerr said they expect to receive additional doses of the vaccine this week.

“We are prioritizing those as well,” she said.

‘Absolutely be concerned.’ Monkeypox cases are surging in South Florida

As of Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. had 929 confirmed cases of monkeypox with New York leading the nation with 158 cases, according to the CDC’s count. California had 150 cases and Illinois had 121.

So far, Florida has 122 confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the Health Department. Miami-Dade County has 21 cases, and 77 people in Broward County have been confirmed to have contracted the illness, according to state data.