Another year, another virus: monkeypox threat looms

As COVID-19 numbers are increasing across the state and country, another virus is on the rise: monkeypox.

Since the spring of 2020, Hays County has seen a consistent ebb and flow of COVID-19 cases throughout the area. The respiratory disease, caused by the coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2, has resulted in more than 68,000 cases in Hays County with 2,110 hospitalizations and 522 fatalities, according to the Hays County Local Health Department. This year, another virus outbreak hit the United States in the form of monkeypox, a milder, rash-causing virus in the same family as smallpox.

While monkeypox is typically restricted to ​​central and western African countries, the recent spike in COVID-19 cases is not unexpected, said Tammy Crumley, director of the Hays County Local Health Department.

“COVID-19 is a virus that has not gone away since our first case in 2020,” she explained. “Over the past two years, we’ve seen spikes in cases in the December/January timeframe and the June/July timeframe. These are times that typically correspond to holiday gatherings and travel and summer vacations and family outings.”

The newest variants of the virus, including the Omicron variant, spread faster but tend to not lead to as many hospitalizations as the original strain, Crumley said.

“Get fully vaccinated and boosted for the best protection against getting severely sick with COVID-19,” she said. “Now is a convenient time to get easily vaccinated by a pharmacist, doctor or health clinic near you. If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19 vaccines, talk to a doctor or pharmacist or go to covidvaccine.texas.gov.”

The Hays County Local Health Department reports weekly COVID-19 data in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hays County has a medium COVID-19 transmission rate as of Thursday, July 14, according to the CDC. In the most recent weekly report, which included information from July 7 through 13, the local health department recorded four COVID-19 fatalities and 998 new cases with a positivity rate of 29.68%.

The local health department has recorded no positive monkeypox cases, according to Crumley.

However, adjacent Travis County reported community spread of monkeypox in Austin on July 14, meaning that one or more individuals were infected without traveling outside of the area. That day, Austin Public Health reported nine confirmed cases and eight presumptive cases, most of which were males in the 20–49 age group. Since then, one of those cases has been confirmed as belonging to the University of Texas at Austin community, according to a University Health Services representative.

The CDC had reported 42 cases of monkeypox in Texas as of July 14.

Monkeypox is a rare virus, the CDC reports, and is spread through intimate physical contact, exposure to the infectious rash or saliva. The illness typically lasts two to four weeks, producing rashes on the face, mouth, hands and feet, chest and/or genitals. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

The virus can be spread regardless of travel history or sexual orientation, according to Austin Public Health, but some cases have been identified through sexual health clinics in communities of gay men, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, according to the World Health Organization.

"Monkeypox is absolutely not a disease of the gay community, but rather, it's circulating right now amongst a small subset of this population,” said Dr. Mike Stefanowicz with CommUnity Care. “Historically… this virus has similarly impacted other, very different groups of people in the past."

People who do not have symptoms cannot spread the virus to others.

Most cases clear up in about three weeks, but people in high-risk groups may have complications, including those who are immunocompromised, pregnant women and young children.

"People that do have significant ongoing skin conditions are also considered at high-risk. They already have skin inflammation and that makes it worse, and it could predispose with more skin involvement and a higher risk of secondary infection," said Dr. Kristin Mondy, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.

Best practices for monkeypox prevention include practicing good hygiene; limiting skin-to-skin contact; and avoiding the sharing of utensils, cups, clothing and linens. In addition, the CDC recommends vaccinations for people who have been exposed to monkeypox and for those who are at higher risk of being exposed to monkeypox. The latter includes people who had multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks in an area with known monkeypox.

For more information about monkeypox, visit cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox. For the latest updates on viruses in Hays County, follow the Hays County Local Health Department on Facebook.