Illinois day care worker tests positive for monkeypox

An adult worker at a day care in Illinois tested positive for monkeypox, prompting health officials to test other employees and children, CNN reported.

According to CNN, officials are making scarce supplies of the monkeypox vaccine available for children at the day care given their potential exposure.

Officials said that they were proactively contacting those who may have come in contact with the exposed worker.

“If your child has had the potential of being exposed to this outbreak, you will receive a call from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. You do not need to call day care centers. You do not need to call public health. You will be contacted,” Julie Pryde, administrator of the district, told CNN.

Unlike COVID-19, which spreads through the air, monkeypox is spread through skin-to-skin contact.

As of Monday, 7,509 Monkeypox cases have been reported in the U.S. in 2022 with most of the cases being reported in the last few weeks. Illinois has reported 602 cases.

Typical symptoms of monkeypox include a rash, fever, malaise, headache and muscle aches.

Illinois declared monkeypox a public health emergency early last week. The federal government later announced it would declare monkeypox a public health emergency.

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