Contact:

Communications Office

561-671-4014

chd50contactus@flhealth.gov

Palm Beach County, FL — The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County continues to respond to monkeypox cases and reminds communities of symptoms, prevention, and treatment. To date, there have been no monkeypox-related deaths outside of endemic countries. The risk of monkeypox to the general population remains low. DOH-Palm Beach is reminding communities of prevention and treatment of monkeypox.

In the event of a monkeypox case, DOH-Palm Beach continues to conduct epidemiological investigations to notify possible exposures and offer potential post-exposure prophylaxis. DOH-Palm Beach will offer the monkeypox vaccine to high-risk groups as doses become available from the federal government.

If health care providers suspect a possible case of monkeypox, immediately contact your local healthdepartment or the 24/7 disease reporting hotline at 850-245-4401. Local county health departments can help providers obtain monkeypox virus-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

Up to date information on monkeypox is available at FloridaHealth.gov. Case data for monkeypox, as well as other reportable diseases, can be found on FLHealthCharts.gov.

Prevention and Treatment

Human-to-human transmission generally requires prolonged, face-to-face contact, direct contact with lesion materials, or indirect contact with lesion materials through contaminated items, such as contaminated clothing. Therefore, the risk of exposure remains low.

Health care providers should remain vigilant of information related to monkeypox:

• Monkeypox symptoms, especially among individuals with relevant travel history.
• Transmission and incubation
• Specimen collection.
• Infection control procedures in the home and hospital
• Clinical recognition, and the characteristic rash associated with monkeypox.
• Prophylaxis and possible treatments for monkeypox.
• Monitoring of those exposed to monkeypox.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitters at @HealthyFla and Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health, please visit http://www.floridahealth.gov.

Follow DOH-Palm Beach on Twitter at @HealthyFLPBC. To learn more about DOH-Palm Beach programs, visit http://palmbeach.floridahealth.gov/.