Health

Officials have identified the first probable case of monkeypox in Ohio. Here's what it means

Ideastream Public Media | By Lisa Ryan

Published June 15, 2022 at 4:10 PM EDT

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee of experts to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside its usual zones should be considered an international public health emergency.

After years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials have identified a probable monkeypox case in Ohio.

The two infectious diseases are being compared by some, but they are not in the same league when it comes to transmissibility, said Dr. Frank Esper, Cleveland Clinic pediatric infectious disease specialist.

"With coronavirus, one good cough in a well-enclosed room, you could spread that virus to several other people in that room," said Dr. Esper, "Whereas monkeypox really requires prolonged, close contact with someone who’s not just infected but actually showing symptoms of that infection.”

It is a slow-spreading disease, and there haven’t been any deaths, so Ohio is not on the brink of seeing another worldwide pandemic, Dr. Esper said.

“These types of global outbreaks may be something that we’re going to be recognizing because borders and travel have allowed germs to travel much more freely," Esper said.

It’s possible we may see more random outbreaks of diseases in regions where they aren’t typically seen, he said.