2 previous cases in Oneida County

Oneida County has seen two cases of Mpox, a virus that triggered an international health alert earlier this week.

Due to the increasing number of MPOX cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries, the World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on Wednesday.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 15,600 cases and 537 deaths so far this year.

In addition, according to the WHO, there is a possibility that the outbreak will continue to spread in Africa and possibly also to other continents.

During a global Mpox outbreak in 2022, healthcare workers in New York City worked in tents to register people for vaccination. The World Health Organization again declared Mpox a public health emergency of global concern on August 14, 2024.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a potentially fatal disease that often causes rashes and lesions. The monkeypox virus is transmitted through contact with infected people, infected animals, or infected objects.

“The emergence of a new clade (group of organisms with a common ancestor) of Mpox, its rapid spread in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very concerning,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “In addition to outbreaks of other Mpox clades in Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries in Africa, it is clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

Are there MPOX cases in Oneida County?

However, the recent outbreak has not spread to Oneida County.

During the week of August 8-14, for which data is most recently available, only one case was reported in the state, in Dutchess County.

New York State Department of Health data lists all cases reported since the last outbreak in June 2022. This tracker lists two cases in Oneida County.

According to the Oneida County Health Department, these cases are not new. The department issued a statement after some local news reports made it seem as if the cases had been reported earlier in the summer.

“There are currently no cases of Mpox in Oneida County,” Health Director Daniel Gilmore said in the statement. “The first case was identified on September 24, 2022. As a result of this case, Oneida County hosted a Mpox vaccination clinic on October 5, 2022. The second case was identified on November 8, 2023.”

According to the health department, neither patient lived in Oneida County and both had traveled.

The patients were isolated and the department conducted contact tracing to determine who else may have been exposed to the virus, as is routinely done with any communicable disease, the release said.

The first patient, from Oneida County, was part of another outbreak in 2022 and 2023 that was also declared an international health emergency. That outbreak spread to 110 countries with about 87,000 cases and resulted in 112 deaths, according to the WHO.

The second case was reported a few months after the WHO declared the outbreak over in May 2023, a year after it began.

How many MPOX cases have there been in New York?

Here's what you should know about Mpox if the outbreak spreads to upstate New York or if you're traveling, according to the WHO and the New York State Department of Health.

According to the New York State Department of Health, there were 456 MPOX cases in New York outside of New York City between June 2022 and August 14 of this year.

There was one case in Otsego County, two cases in Onondaga County and one case in Cayuga County.

There were 12 cases in the Southern Tier, 40 in the Finger Lakes region, 26 in Western New York, 16 in the Capital Region, 180 in the Hudson Valley and 168 on Long Island.

One case was reported in Dutchess County between August 8 and August 14, the most recent dates for which data is available. The most cases were reported in 2022.

In the United States, Mpox is most common in men who have sex with men, according to the New York State Department of Health. But anyone can become infected.

What is the WHO doing about MPOX?

“Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and governments. Our country teams are working on the front lines to strengthen MPOX containment measures,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a statement. “As the virus spreads, we are scaling up our efforts through coordinated international action to support countries in ending outbreaks.”

Is Mpox a relatively new disease?

According to the WHO, Mpox was first discovered in a research monkey in Denmark in 1958. The first human case was reported in 1970 in a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mpox is related to smallpox but does not have nearly as high a fatality rate. After smallpox was eradicated in 1980 and routine smallpox vaccination ended, Mpox cases began to rise steadily in Central, East and West Africa, according to a background report on the WHO website.

An American outbreak in 2003 was traced to imported wildlife.

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In 2022, the WHO recommended changing the name of monkeypox to Mpox, since not only monkeys but also various small mammals transmit the virus, which is also transmitted between humans.

How can you get infected with Mpox?

Contact with an infected person, for example through touching, kissing or sex.

Contact with contaminated materials such as bedding, clothing or needles.

Contact with an infected animal, for example through bites or scratches or through hunting, skinning, cooking or eating.

A pregnant woman can pass the infection to her unborn child.

What are the symptoms?

Not everyone infected with Mpox develops symptoms.

Symptoms usually appear between one and 21 days after infection and can vary from patient to patient. Symptoms may include:

A rash or lesions on the mucous membrane tissues – with one to hundreds of lesions. This may start on the face and possibly spread to the mouth, throat, groin, genital area, palms and soles of the feet. The rash begins as shallow sores and develops into fluid-filled blisters that later dry, crust and fall off. The lesions may be itchy or painful.

Muscle pain and back pain.

Symptoms typically last two to four weeks, but may last longer in patients with weakened immune systems.

What complications can occur?

According to the WHO, most patients with Mpox only experience mild symptoms.

However, Mpox infection can lead to:

Skin infections and abscesses in existing lesions.

Corneal infection, possibly leading to loss of vision.

Pain and difficulty swallowing, vomiting and diarrhea, and even dehydration or malnutrition.

Inflammation of the brain, heart, rectum, genitals and/or urinary tract.

These risks are higher for the elderly, young children, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.

Is there a vaccine?

Yes. It is recommended for people who are at particular risk, especially during outbreaks.

This includes:

Healthcare workers are at risk of radiation exposure at work.

Men who have sex with men.

People with multiple sexual partners.

2 previous cases in Oneida County

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