Health Department Posts Monkeypox Virus Resources

Delaware County residents can stay up to date regarding the spread of Monkeypox virus by visiting our dedicated Delaware County Health Department Monkeypox web page, which includes the latest information and links to related resources.

This page will include updates regarding guidance, spread, testing, and treatments, and includes links to key online resources updated by the PA Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

What is Monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a contagious disease and is caused by the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are like smallpox, but milder and rarely fatal.

An individual can get the virus when they contact the sores, scabs, or body fluids of an infected person. Infections occur through close, intimate situations, such as cuddling, kissing and sexual contact and by touching contaminated materials, such as clothing, bedding and other linens used by an infected person. This illness can also be spread through respiratory secretions after prolonged face-to-face contact.

Symptoms can include a rash (that looks like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus), fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes.

A rash typically develops a few days after the early symptoms. However, not all individuals infected with monkeypox develop any symptoms prior to rash. some persons with monkeypox only have a few sores. It is critical that people who believe they were exposed to the virus and develop a rash get tested to limit the spread of the disease. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.

For more information, visit these important Monkeypox resources:

• Delaware County Health Department Monkeypox web page
• CDC’s Monkeypox Signs and Symptoms web page
• Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Monkeypox web page
• World Health Organization’s Monkeypox web page