Active-duty US soldier stationed in Germany is identified as having military's first known case of monkeypox
- An American soldier based at the U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart military base in Germany tested positive for monkeypox, the military said on Friday
- It is the military's first-known case of monkeybox, with the soldier now quarantined and contact tracing underway
- America's monkeypox cases tally rose to 49 on Friday as 15 states reported cases
- Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said the tropical disease was being passed on through physical contact with patients and infected linen
- She said it was not possible to catch the virus from casual conversations or passing others in grocery stores
The soldier — who has not been named — tested positive for the tropical disease at the base in Stuttgart, in the country's southwest region where about 23,000 soldiers are stationed, CNN reported.
Military officials have now quarantined the individual in their quarters until symptoms subside.
Revealing the case on Friday navy Capt. William Speaks said: 'We can confirm that a duty service member from the Stuttgart military community recently tested positive for monkeypox.
'The individual was seen and treated at the Stuttgart Army Health clinic and is currently in isolation.'
It comes as America's monkeypox cases tally rose to 49 on Friday, with Rhode Island becoming the fifteenth state to report a case of the disease.
- An American soldier based at the U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart military base in Germany (pictured) has contracted monkeypox, the military's first-known case of the disease
- The American is currently quarantining inside the Stuttgart Army Health clinic (pictured)
- A total of 49 cases of monkeypox have now been recorded across 15 states in America and Washington D.C. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most cases are in people who recently returned from abroad
- At the Stuttgart base, German authorities have been informed of the case, and contact tracing is underway.
'The case in Stuttgart is of the West African strain, which is generally mild and human-to-human transmission is limited.'
Medical literature says that people infected with monkeypox experience flu-like symptoms within the first 21 days of catching the virus, followed by a rash that appears on the face before spreading to the rest of the body.
But this is rarely being observed in the current outbreak, with patients instead seeing rashes emerge on the genital areas before suffering any flu-like symptoms.
Germany has detected 165 cases of monkeypox to date, local officials say, as the disease has popped up to dozens of countries over the past few months.
In a briefing Friday Dr Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said monkeypox was being passed on through physical contact with symptomatic patients and by touching their clothing and bedding.
But attempting to clear up whether face masks are needed to avoid catching the rash-causing virus, the epidemiologist explained the rash-causing virus would not 'linger in the air' like Covid.
'The disease is not spread through casual conversations, passing others in a grocery store, or touching things like door-knobs,' she said. 'All of the case we have seen to date in this outbreak have been related to direct contact.'
During the conference health officials also called on Americans with any sexually transmitted infection — including syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia — to get tested for monkeypox.
Dr Rochelle Walensky (left), who heads up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that monkeypox could only spread through the air during prolonged face to face contact. Dr Jennifer McQuiston (right), who is heading up the agency's response, said most cases were in people who had recently traveled
Spoiler
- Officials are urging gay and bisexual men to be aware of new lesions, rashes or scabs and get in contact with a sexual health clinic
Health officials also revealed they had distributed more than 1,400 vaccines against the virus to states from their stockpile of more than a million doses. Another 300,000 doses are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
But some experts have raised concerns that the country may not have enough jabs because if the outbreak becomes more widespread there may not be enough to jab the entire country.
America recorded eight cases of the virus between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning, as the scale of the outbreak across the country continues to grow.
About three in four cases are currently linked to international travel, including to Europe, while others are linked to someone who has had close contact with a known case.
But there are 'several' patients across multiple states who have tested positive despite not recently traveling or having contact with a known case.
Dr Jennifer McQuiston, who is leading the CDC's response to the outbreak, said it was likely the case that they acquired the infection from someone who had recently traveled but that this first case was yet to be spotted.
She added: 'I can tell you that right now we don't have an area that seems to be having an urban outbreak. There is no one area where it looks like there is a lot of community transmission.
'But this could change. We need to make sure our testing is increasing and ready to catch that when it happens.'
Spoiler
- The infection often starts with small bumps that scab over and are contagious
Health officials are calling on states to send more samples to labs, but states are complaining that the process is 'too complicated' because after going to these labs the swabs must go to the CDC for confirmation.
New York reported two new monkeypox cases yesterday, while Illinois and Florida reported one and Rhode Island revealed its first infection that they said may be 'linked to travel to Massachusetts'.
Hawaii also reported its third case in a week in an individual who had not recently traveled, prompting officials to warn that the tropical disease may be spreading undetected in the archipelago.
