Madison Reporter

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has confirmed the first case of monkeypox in the state, verifying that the virus has been detected in a Dane County resident. The resident is now isolating.

Even with cases rising across much of the country, Wisconsin state officials continue to stress the risk to the public at large remains lows.  

“While it’s likely that additional cases will be found among Wisconsinites, we are relieved that this disease does not spread easily from person to person,” DHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard told WMTV. But he also urged those in medical fields to watch out for patients with rashes similar to those associated with the virus.

With 396 known cases of the virus having been detected across the country, DHS officials described the disease as a rare condition that can be serious, the WMTV report said. People who contracted the virus are most likely to see new, unexplained rashes. They may also contract a fever, experience chills or get swollen lymph nodes, and most people would need up to four weeks to recover from the infection without treatment.  

As part of a statement, DHS emphasized that monkeypox does not spread easily and said it most likely occurs through respiratory droplets, sustained skin-to-skin contact, or contact with contaminated items.

During a recent news conference, Westergaard said that despite its lower transmission rate, it is still important for people to be mindful of the disease so that they don’t miss it if they have it.

“It’s important because we have an opportunity to prevent it from spreading widely, but we’re only going to do that if people think to test for it,” he told WMTV.

Westergaard noted that there are now two vaccines available to treat monkeypox: the smallpox vaccine and the JYNNEOS vaccine. The smallpox vaccine is the older of the two but is no longer widely used now that the disease has been mostly contained. JYNNEOS is a newer live-virus vaccine.

Nearly two decades ago, an outbreak of monkeypox swept through Wisconsin and the country, the WMTV report said. At that time, the outbreak was tied to people who had contact with exotic or wild animals—specifically prairie dogs in Wisconsin.