OHIO — The monkeypox virus, which is typically seen in Africa, has been spreading all over the world the last several months. There have been more than 10,000 reported cases across the globe, including more than 700 in the United States, with three being in Ohio, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What You Need To Know

  • The monkeypox virus is spreading across the globe; there are more than 10,000 cases in the world and more than 700 reported cases in the U.S. 

  • The federal government has begun distributing vaccines, but it won't be for the public 

  • There are a couple of known monkeypox strains and the one that's spreading is the one with a lower mortality rate

The federal government began distributing vaccines for this, but it will not be available to the general public. 

“Really trying to focus now on the pre-exposure for those who are handling the virus, potentially the virus in the labs, and those who have been known exposures,” Dr. Kristin Englund of the Cleveland Clinic said.

The hot spot areas include New York, California and the Chicago area, according to federal data. Englund said while people may fear monkeypox because it’s a virus, it does not spread the same as COVID-19. She wants people to look at the viruses differently. 

“You know, you can get COVID from somebody sitting next to them on a bus. With monkeypox, it really has to be direct contact, so you need to have skin to skin contact, at least for the most part. And that’s where you’re not going to have just the general public infecting one another,” she said. 

There are a couple known strains of this virus: One that is from Central Africa and another from Western Africa. The strain originating from Central African has a higher mortality rate. Although, the strain originating from Western African is the one that has spread.

“The Central African (strain) tends to have about 5, even up to 10% risk of mortality or death. The Western African is much less, maybe 2-3% at most. And thankfully, that’s the version that we’re seeing that’s circulating around the world right now, is the less deadly form of it,” she said. 

Englund urges people to call their doctor if they get monkeypox symptoms, because although the death rate is low, it can still make you very sick.

Symptoms include:

  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Muscle aches and backache
  • Swollen lymph nodes
  • Chills
  • Exhaustion
  • A rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appear 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.

Labcorp became the first national commercial laboratory to begin testing for the disease, which the CDC said will double the current U.S. testing capacity for monkeypox.