Last week, Cameron County Public Health and the Hidalgo County Health and Human Services Department each received confirmation of its first monkeypox case. Both individuals are in home isolation and being monitored by health officials, according to news releases by both counties.
“Privacy laws preclude releasing many details of this case, other than it is suspected to be travel related,” according to the Aug. 22 Hidalgo County news release. “The gender and age range of the individual cannot be revealed at this time.”
In Cameron County, the individual did not report recent travel and developed lesions and minor symptoms before testing.
Both counties began contact tracing to determine who might have been exposed to initiate the process of getting those most at risk vaccinated.
Asked about the status of the individual, Esmeralda Guajardo, Cameron County health administrator, replied, “Based on the information that we’re receiving from the individual, they’re generally healthy and they’re recovering.”
Guajardo said the county suspects that the monkeypox case was community-based.
“Somehow, this person was exposed in the community because there’s been very little travel,” she said.
“And so there’s potential that there’s going to be additional cases that come out. Do I think it’s going to be to an extent that it’s very alarming? Potentially not, and, of course, hopefully not. But we do expect that there may be some other cases at some point.”
Vaccines are available for individuals who have been exposed or may be likely to get monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
The CDC website states these individuals include those who are aware that one of their sexual partners in the past two weeks has been diagnosed with monkeypox; had multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks in an area with known monkeypox; whose jobs may expose them to orthopoxviruses, such as laboratory workers who perform testing for orthopoxviruses, laboratory workers who handle cultures or animals with orthopoxviruses, some designated health-care or public health workers.
Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for Hidalgo County Health and Human Services, said the state issued the county 2,500 doses of the monkeypox vaccine. However, because it is two doses per person, only about 1,250 individuals will be able to get vaccinated from now until November.
“The first dose is given and then 28 days later, the second dose,” Olivarez said. “If you’re fully vaccinated, there’s 85% to 90% [chance] of it being effective … but there’s still a small chance that you would. After your first dose you are, I think, it’s like 25% protected, and then, once you get your second dose, it’ll take it to the 85%. So we really encourage people who are getting the vaccine not to have a false sense of, ‘OK, I’m covered, I got my first vaccine.’ That’s not necessarily the case. Two weeks after your second vaccine, [you can] be considered fully vaccinated.”
Guajardo said Cameron County has been allocated 180 vials of the vaccine but has only received 100. The county has issued 40 of them to the Westbrook Clinic in Harlingen, as it works with high-risk populations, 40 to its main pharmacy in San Benito and 20 have been put on reserve in case of an outbreak.
Cameron County has an appointment system set up to determine who is eligible for the vaccine as it has eight hours to use it once a vial is open, Guajardo said.
“We have our staff that are screening individuals, making sure they are high priority, because we are so, so limited,” she said. “And, we will schedule an appointment for them so we can try to get five individuals at once so that we know for sure that the vaccine is not going to go to waste.”
Michael Dobbs, chief medical officer for UT Health Rio Grande Valley, said the university has been proactive and is offering tests through its clinical labs.
“The turnaround time on those tests is about 24 hours, which is really pretty quick,” Dobbs said. “This is a molecular test, a PCR test where, actually, the genetic material of the virus is identified.”
If students, faculty or staff have been exposed, he advises them to contact UTRGV Student Health Clinic on the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses or UTRGV Employee Health Clinic in Edinburg or Harlingen.
Dobbs said the university continues to monitor the situation and will notify the campus community if there are updates.
“Some of the resources that are available at [UTRGV] include Student Health … our comprehensive clinical lab that can test for monkeypox,” he said. “Our Counseling Center is open if students want to discuss concerns around any mental health issues related to monkeypox.”
If you have been contacted by health authorities and identified as a potential contact of someone who has monkeypox, cooperation is advised because it is an important part of controlling the spread of infectious diseases, Dobbs said.
For more information on the virus, visit the CDC’s website or the World Health Organization’s website.
