CLEVELAND — Ohio health officials identified the monkeypox virus in a Cleveland resident Thursday, the third overall case found in Ohio this month. 

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb's office said the Cleveland Department of Public Health is working with the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the case. Bibb said the resident had very limited contact with others in the past 21 days.

Health officials reached out to those who have potentially been in contact with the resident and are asking them to isolate and monitor for symptoms. 

Officials found two other cases in the Columbus area, one a few days ago and the other on June 13.

According to the CDC, monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. It's part of the same family as smallpox. While symptoms may be similar, they are milder than smallpox and monkeypox is rarely fatal. 

Symptoms include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches and backache
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Chills
• Exhaustion
• A rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth and on other parts of the body, such as the hands, feet, chest, genitals or anus
  • The rash goes through different stages before healing completely. The illness typically lasts between two to four weeks

Most infections last two to four weeks. It's transmitted person to person through direct skin-to-skin contact, having contact with an infectious rash, through body fluids, through respiratory secretions, or by inhaling large respiratory droplets or through close contact with body fluids and lesions, as well as bedding and other contaminated materials.

The CDC recommended anyone who has a rash that resembles monkeypox speak to their health care provider. 

The CDC director said the overall risk for people in the U.S. to be infected with the virus is low. Officials said there is no evidence of monkeypox spreading through American communities, but they’re continuing to closely monitor contact tracing.