SACRAMENTO – During a virtual Zoom press conference Tuesday morning, Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye told reporters that her department is investigating a potential case of infection of monkeypox in a Sacramento area resident.

This is the first case of the monkeypox infection reported in the state of California according to Public Health officials.

Dr. Kasirye said that Public Health and is waiting for confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), according to Public Health on the case and that resident had recently returned from Europe. Kasirye added the patient is isolated at home and has not been in contact with any other people and any risk to the general public is very minimal.

According to Public Health, monkeypox does not naturally occur in the United States and US cases are related to international travel or importing animals from areas where the disease may exist.

Symptoms may not appear for seven to 14 days after infection and can last two to four weeks, according to Public Health.

The chairman of the World Health Organization Emergency Committee, Professor David L. Heymann told reporters Monday that WHO researchers determined that cases were confirmed stemming from an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in the Canary Islands that drew tens of thousands of revelers and linked to the Darklands Festival, a large-scale fetish festival in the port city of Antwerp, Belgium.

Monkeypox is not usually fatal but often manifests itself through fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

The virus can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions or droplets of bodily fluid from an infected person. Most people recover from the disease within several weeks without requiring hospitalization. Vaccines against smallpox, a related disease, are also effective in preventing monkeypox and some antiviral drugs are being developed.

Monkeypox symptoms:

• fever
• headache
• muscle aches
• backache
• swollen lymph nodes
• chills
• exhaustion

A rash can appear on the face and spread to other parts of the body one to three days after the appearance of a fever, according to Public Health.

For more information regarding Monkeypox visit the official CDC monkeypox page or the CDPH page on the disease.

ATLANTA – Health officials on both sides of the Atlantic are cautioning gay and bisexual men to be cautious as numbers of infections of the non-lethal monkeypox continue to climb. The outbreak according to the World Health Organization can be traced to sexual activity stemming from LGBTQ+ events, one in the Spanish in the Canary Islands and the other in Belgium.

The chairman of the World Health Organization Emergency Committee, Professor David L. Heymann told reporters that WHO researchers determined that cases were confirmed stemming from an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in the Canary Islands that drew tens of thousands of revelers and linked to the Darklands Festival, a large-scale fetish festival in the port city of Antwerp, Belgium.

“We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected,” Heymann said. “And it looks like the sexual contact has now amplified that transmission.”

“It’s very possible there was somebody who got infected, developed lesions on the genitals, hands or somewhere else, and then spread it to others when there was sexual or close, physical contact,” Heymann added. “And then there were these international events that seeded the outbreak around the world, into the US and other European countries.”

On Monday, Dr. John Brooks, an official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta told reporters that anyone can contract monkeypox through close personal contact regardless of sexual orientation. He added that so far many of the people affected globally are men who identify as gay or bisexual. Though they may have greater chance of exposure to monkeypox right now, that doesn’t mean the risk is limited only to the gay and bisexual community, he said.

The United Nations’ AIDS agency (UNAID) in a press release Monday decried the semingly homophobic news coverage of the recent outbreaks of monkeypox in Europe and the United States.

“Lessons from the AIDS response show that stigma and blame directed at certain groups of people can rapidly undermine outbreak response,” UNAIDS said.

Monkeypox is not usually fatal but often manifests itself through fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

The virus can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions or droplets of bodily fluid from an infected person. Most people recover from the disease within several weeks without requiring hospitalization. Vaccines against smallpox, a related disease, are also effective in preventing monkeypox and some antiviral drugs are being developed.

University of Maryland’s Vice President and Chief of Infectious Diseases at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health Center, Dr. Faheem Younus, tweeted a note of reassurance Monday; “Monkeypox cases are concerning but the risk of this becoming a COVID like pandemic is ZERO%”

Monkeypox cases are concerning but the risk of this becoming a COVID like pandemic is ZERO%

Why? This virus:

– is NOT novel…
– is typically not deadly
– is less contagious than COVID
– has been around for 5 decades
– is prevented by smallpox vaccine

Stay calm folks:)

— Faheem Younus, MD (@FaheemYounus) May 23, 2022

PANAMA CITY — First lady Jill Biden on Saturday announced the U.S. will provide an additional $80.9 million to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Latin America.

Biden during a visit to Casa Hogar el Buen Samaritano, a shelter for people with HIV/AIDS in Panama City, said the State Department will earmark an additional $80.9 million for President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-funded work in Latin America. A Panamanian activist with whom the Washington Blade spoke said LGBTQ+ people were among those who met with the first lady during her visit.

Pope Francis visited the shelter in 2019.

“I’m glad we have the opportunity to talk about how the United States and Panama can work together to combat HIV,” said the first lady.

Michael LaRosa, the first lady’s spokesperson, noted Panama will receive $12.2 million of the $80.9 million in PEPFAR funding.

“This funding, pending Congressional notification, will support expanded HIV/AIDS services and treatment,” said LaRosa.

UNAIDS statistics indicate an estimated 31,000 Panamanians were living with HIV/AIDS in 2020. The first lady’s office notes the country in 2020 had the highest number of “newly notificated cases of HIV/AIDS” in Central America.

The first lady visited Panama as part of a trip that included stops in Ecuador and Costa Rica.

The Summit of the Americas will take place next month in Los Angeles. The U.S. Agency for International Development and PEPFAR in April announced they delivered more than 18 million doses of antiretroviral drugs for Ukrainians with HIV/AIDS.