GARY, Ind. — A Gary resident has been confirmed as the second person in Indiana diagnosed with monkeypox.
The patient has been isolated and health officials have contacted others who have had close contact with the patient, Gary Health Commissioner Dr. Roland H. Walker told reporters Tuesday.
The case was confirmed Sunday following testing Saturday at a medical facility.
On Saturday, Indiana health officials reported the state's first probable case of monkeypox.
The disease that first causes flu-like symptoms before progressing to a rash on the face and body is commonly found in parts of central and west Africa. But this year, 1,880 infections have been reported in more than 30 countries where monkeypox isn’t typically found.
Most of those cases have been found in Europe, but 142 had been confirmed in the United States as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nineteen of those cases were confirmed in Illinois which neighbors Indiana.
“Considering our proximity to Chicago, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this virus has spread to the city of Gary,” Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said Tuesday.
The World Health Organization has said people with monkeypox could be infectious for up to four weeks and advised them to isolate until they have completely recovered.
There have been no reported cases of monkeypox in Kentucky at this time.
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