fort dodge correctional facility

An Iowa prison has tested positive for mpox, a highly contagious viral disease that causes severe rashes and pustules.

Paul Cornelius, chief of staff at the Iowa Department of Corrections, stated in a statement released on Monday to the Des Moines Register and initially carried by KCCI-TV, “We are aggressively addressing the problem with robust health precautions.” “Enhanced cleanliness and isolation practices are in place to prevent further spread, and affected persons are receiving care.”

The number of afflicted prisoners is still unknown.

What you should know about Mpox is provided below.

Where was Mpox detected in Iowa?

Cornelius told the TV station that the disease was detected at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. His statement identified the strain of Mpox as clade 2, a more common, less serious form of the virus than clade 1, the virulent strain that currently is spreading in Africa and has yet to reach the United States. The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency to deal with clade 1.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before the Fort Dodge detection, there had been no prior reported cases of Mpox in Iowa this year through Aug. 24, and there was one case in 2023. Over the course of the CDC’s monitoring of the disease, it has reported a total of 30 cases in Iowa and 32,063 nationwide, with 58 deaths.

What is Mpox?

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a part of the same virus family that causes smallpox, according to the CDC.

Discovered in 1958, the virus originally was called monkeypox because it was first discovered in primates—nnot because monkeys are the source of infection. The WHO has since shifted to calling it Mpox to avoid that unintended stigma.

The disease is zoonotic, which means it can be spread from animals to humans. However, it also can pass from person to person through physical contact, according to the CDC. In fact, more human-to-human than animal-to-human transmissions have been reported since 2016, according to Politico.

Of the two types of Mpox, clade I is endemic in central Africa, while the milder clade II is endemic in West Africa. A new variant of Clade I, called Ib, appears to spread more easily.

How is Mpox spread?

Mpox often spreads through bodily fluids and physical contact, the CDC says. Person-to-person transmission is usually through close contact with respiratory secretions, inflected skin lesions, or recently contaminated objects, according to the WHO.

What are the symptoms of Mpox?

Infection is usually mild, but the Mpox illness can last anywhere from two to four weeks and can prove fatal if left untreated.

Most symptoms are similar to the flu and also may include pus-filled skin lesions.

Within one to three days of infection, a patient will develop a facial rash that spreads to other parts of the body, including hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, and genitals, the CDC says. The rash can start out as a pimple or blisters and, over time, can become very painful.

The fluid-filled lesions go through a series of stages before drying out and falling off.

The incubation period, the time between infection and symptoms, is usually six to 13 days but can be five to 21 days.

Other symptoms of Mpox include:

• Headache and fever.
• Swollen lymph nodes.
• Exhaustion.
• Chills.
• Backache and other body aches.
• Rash.

What is the treatment for Mpox?

Vaccines are available and recommended for people from higher-risk populations: children, pregnant people, and people with weak immune systems, including people living with HIV that is not well controlled, according to the WHO.

The approved JYNNEOS vaccine, a two-dose series administered at least four weeks apart, provides protection against both the clade I and clade II strains.

The vaccine is highly effective, a recent CDC report shows. Fully vaccinated people became infected in less than 1% of cases. And among those who did become infected, symptoms were milder than in unvaccinated people.

You can find Mpox vaccination locations in Iowa by consulting the Iowa DHHS website at hhs.iowa.gov/immunization/mpox-mpv.

How do you prevent Mpox infection?

Avoid contact with people who exhibit symptoms. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services also recommends refraining from touching the rashes or scabs of an infected person and avoiding indirect contact, such as touching shared door handles and bedding.

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