6th, 7th Suspected Monkeypox Cases In Sacramento County Linked To Domestic Travel

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A sixth and seventh suspected case of monkeypox was found in Sacramento County - and unlike the first five cases, these new cases are related to travel within the United States.

"There's just a lot going on the last couple of years. It's just annoying," said Sean Wilson, who's traveling from Sacramento to Alaska.

But anxiety has once again set in after the Sacramento County Department of Public Health confirmed there are now seven monkeypox cases in the area.

"We have no proof of casual transmission. It appears to be prolonged contact with people, and so we're not expecting this to have widespread transmission like we did with COVID," said Dr. Dean Blumber, a UC Davis infectious disease expert.

As of Thursday afternoon, the CDC is monitoring 100 cases of Monkeypox nationwide.

So is Sacramento County ready to help, and how?

"There are two available vaccines used for monkeypox. One for monkeypox and smallpox, and one for smallpox that provides some protection," Blumberg said.

The smallpox virus was eliminated in 1970 and though the federal government stopped mass producing the vaccine, they manufacture it in small amounts.

"The federal government has a stockpile of these vaccines in the event of a bioterrorism attack using the smallpox virus, so we do have vaccines available," Blumberg said.

Blumberg says the CDC is distributing the limited stash to each state, which will allocate them to county health departments.

"Public health will make it available to people at high risk due to exposure," he said.

Sacramento County confirmed to CBS13 that after close contact tracing, they've given 30 vaccines to people exposed to the virus.

Symptoms of monkeypox can last between five and 21 days and include fever, headache, muscle aches and chills.