Health officials say three severe cases of smallpox have been reported in California US News
Three California residents have contracted type 1 smallpox, a more dangerous strain of the virus formerly known as monkeypox, marking the first time this type of smallpox has spread within the United States, health officials said Friday.
The unlinked cases, which have been identified in Long Beach County and Los Angeles, include patients who have not recently traveled abroad. The three were taken to hospital and are now recovering, according to the source California Department of Public Health.
Mpox is a viral infection that often begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, and muscle aches. It is usually followed by a rash that begins as small, raised spots, then develops into fluid-filled blisters before forming crusts.
The virus has two main genetic groups, or ‘clides’. Type 1 smallpox has caused widespread illness and death in parts of central and eastern Africa, most severely in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Clade II was the stressor behind the 2022 US outbreak, which has spread at low levels since then.
“The presence of the clade needs to be carefully evaluated,” said Seth Blumberg, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Medicine.
“I don’t think the historical results we’ve seen in Africa can be translated directly, but we need to monitor these cases closely.”
“Type 1 smallpox cases can be severe” and “the risk of severe illness and hospitalization is highest for people with weakened immune systems,” Dr. Rita Nguyen, assistant state public health officer, said in a statement Friday.
“It is essential that you protect yourself by getting both doses of the smallpox vaccine if you or your sexual partner are at risk of contracting smallpox,” she said.
Anyone can get smallpox through close physical contact, including sex. Previous Tier II outbreaks have primarily affected gay, bisexual, and transgender men or non-binary people who have sex with men. The California Department of Public Health now believes that person-to-person spread of type 1 is occurring in California, primarily affecting these communities.
In Long Beach officials Announce the first case Tuesday.
As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Six previous cases in the United StatesAll of them are related to traveling abroad. The first case was detected in San Mateo County in 2024. Officials said the overall risk to the public remains low, and casual contact in places like offices or public transportation is unlikely to spread the virus.
The Genius vaccine protects against both types 1 and 2 smallpox. It is a series of two doses given a month apart, with full immunity reached two weeks after the second dose. The use of any booster is not currently recommended.
Vaccination does not completely eliminate the risk of contracting smallpox, but experts say it helps reduce the severity of the disease if a person contracts the disease.
“Vaccines are completely protective,” Bloomberg said. “Vaccines can prevent the severity of the disease. If you get smallpox, you are unlikely to need advanced care.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is not known how long vaccine protection may last, or whether protection may decline over time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Website. The public health agency is analyzing current data and conducting studies to better understand how the Genius vaccine works amid the current smallpox outbreak, as well as how long protection may last.