One Monkeypox Case Confirmed in Neighboring Ventura County

The most recent California health report listed 434 cases of monkeypox in the state last week, and on Friday, a new case was diagnosed in neighboring Ventura County. The approach of the spreading disease parallels COVID in an uncomfortable way — first a distant country with cases, then a neighboring county — but unlike the novel coronavirus, monkeypox has been known since 1958 and treatments already exist.

The individual in Ventura is an adult, while another case in an undisclosed county last week was a California toddler. The routes for infection in both cases were under investigation, but each is presumed to be due to close physical contact with another infected individual, their clothing, or their bedding.

Monkeypox is a viral disease first identified among laboratory monkeys in Copenhagen, hence the name, and the animal is thought to be a reservoir for the disease. The 2022 outbreak was first confirmed in May by the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in the western part of Central Africa, where the disease is known to be endemic. When cases appeared in the U.K. and other countries where monkeypox is more unusual, concern began to grow. The World Health Organization declared it a global health emergency on July 23, as the outbreak had spread to 75 countries and more than 16,000 individuals, primarily men who had sex with men.