Suffolk County confirms first case of monkey pox

Suffolk County has its first case of monkeypox, county health officials confirmed Friday. The individual tested positive for orthopoxvirus, as the sickness is called, and is isolating at home, the county said in a news release.

County health officials were trying to trace the individual’s contacts so they can reach out to anyone who may have been exposed.

“While the current risk to the general public is low, we urge the public as well as health care providers in Suffolk County to be aware that this rare virus has been found in the region and to know the signs and symptoms and manner of transmission of the monkeypox virus," county Health Commissioner Gregson Pigott said in a news release.

County spokeswoman Grace Kelly-McGovern said the case was in Brookhaven and said contact tracers will look into where the individual got infected. The quarantine will last until the sores disappear, she said.

Symptoms usually include a rash that looks like pimples or blisters that can appear on any part of the body. The sickness, which can last for two to four weeks, is generally spread through contact with infected persons or surfaces that touched the rash, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infected people may also experience fever, swollen lymphs nodes, chills, headaches and exhaustion, according to the CDC. Though related to smallpox, the illness is rarely fatal, according to the CDC.

County officials ask that anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox talk to their health care provider.

The CDC reports that as of July 1 there are 460 cases of monkeypox nationwide, including 90 in New York.

More information about monkeypox can be found on at the New York State website www.health.ny.gov/monkeypox.