Don't Freak Out: Monkeypox Has Hit Dallas, But Health Experts Say You Shouldn't Panic

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many are still reeling from a tough couple of years of quarantine and testing and sickness. So, when news broke on Tuesday that health officials had found 2022’s first Texas case of monkeypox in a Dallas County resident, some understandably got a little anxious.

While doctors want you to remain aware, they also say there’s no reason to panic.

Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang said the person who contracted monkeypox had recently flown in from Mexico, and that they’re isolating at home.

“Right now, there’s no known risk to the general public,” Huang said, adding that monkeypox is “very rare.”

Last July, local health officials reported the first instance of a Dallas County resident coming down with the illness. In that case, the person was hospitalized after flying from Nigeria, and Huang said it was ultimately contained and deemed a “public health success.”

Many of the monkeypox cases are associated with men who have sex with men, Huang said, but it’s not just confined to that group. The virus isn’t sexually transmitted but spreads via close contact, such as through lesions, sores, body fluids and respiratory secretions via prolonged face-to-face interactions.

During June, there are lots of activities in Dallas to celebrate Pride Month, Huang said. He asks that everyone be conscious of others who have lesions that could potentially be sources of spread.

Huang also mentioned that global health officials recently traced the monkeypox outbreak to raves in Europe. Globally, the World Health Organization is counting some 1,000 cases that have cropped up in countries outside the African regions where monkeypox is more commonly found.

As of Wednesday afternoon, around 40 cases had been detected in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has also raised its travel alert to a Level 2 and urges people to “practice enhanced precautions,” such as avoiding contact with wildlife and looking out for symptoms.

Monkeypox isn’t a new virus, said Dr. Rodney E. Rohde, a professor and chair of the clinical laboratory science program at Texas State University. It’s likely been around for millennia, seen in rodent-like animals in places like Africa.

“The word for the day is ‘awareness’ and ‘caution.’ Not ‘panic,’ not ‘freaking out.’” – Dr. Rodney E. Rohde

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Around two decades ago, there was an incursion of monkeypox in a shipment of research animals out of Ghana, said Rohde, who’s also an associate adjunct professor at Austin Community College. For a time, the concern was that it would spread to the prairie dog population in West Texas and other parts of the state and become endemic here.

Rohde also notes that “monkeypox” is a misnomer.

“It got that name way back when one of the first big incidents happened, because a shipment of monkeys being transported for research ended up having monkeypox, and somebody gave it the name and it stuck,” he said. “Probably a better name would be ‘rodentpox’ because it’s really more endemic in rodents than monkeys.”

Monkeypox can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle aches and nausea and vomiting, Rohde said. Similar to smallpox, those infected with the virus may develop lesions like blisters, which end up bursting before scabbing over, drying up and falling off.

One difference between the two “pox,” though, is that lymph nodes may swell with the monkey variety, he said. Monkeypox has a couple of forms: the West African clade and Congo Basin clade. The U.S. is witnessing the former, which is less deadly with a mortality rate of 1% or less.

Rohde also explained that monkeypox’s transmissibility is relatively low.

“It’s going to be a virus that’s not going to go raging through the population,” he said. “It’s hard to transmit; it doesn’t kill as many people. It’s really actually pretty wimpy with respect to getting around.”

The illness usually goes away on its own, but those who test positive for monkeypox can also get treated via antiviral medications such as tecovirimat, Rohde said.

Looking ahead, Rohde and other health officials think that the fall and winter months could bring a more active flu season. Antibiotic-resistant infections, which he's called a “slow-burning pandemic,” kill up to 300 or 400 people each day. Rohde also said there’s a question as to whether African swine fever, which is mainly found in pigs, could have an opportunity to jump to humans someday.

North Texans shouldn’t fret as far as monkeypox is concerned, Rohde said. The U.S. has an ample supply of vaccines to protect against it if “something crazy happens.”

“The word for the day is ‘awareness’ and ‘caution,’” he said. “Not ‘panic,’ not ‘freaking out.’”