Monkeypox: 454 confirmed cases in Texas, 228 in North Texas region

TEXAS, USA — The state health department has released its latest numbers on monkeypox cases in Texas on Tuesday.

According to the Department of State Health Services, 454 Texans have been diagnosed with monkeypox, 228 of those in the North Texas area. This is the most of any reported region group in Texas.

The North Texas area includes Texas Public Health Regions 2 and 3 within the department.

There have also been seven confirmed female cases of monkeypox in Texas, Tuesday's report showed. The state's other 447 cases have been men.

While many of the symptoms of monkeypox mimic the flu, sores and lesions are what sets it apart.

Person-to-person transmission of monkeypox is primarily through direct contact with infectious lesions, scabs, or body fluids. Anyone who has sores or a rash caused by the virus is infectious until they are fully healed.

The threat of the disease to the general population in Dallas County remains low, Dallas County Health and Human Services said. Monkeypox doesn't spread easily between people without close, skin-to-skin contact, and it is a rare disease.

Dallas County has expanded the monkeypox vaccine eligibility to:

• People who have had close, intimate, skin-to-skin contact with someone who has tested positive for monkeypox.
• Men above 18 who have sex with men or men who have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the past 14 days

More public updates from Dallas County on confirmed monkeypox cases can be found on their website here. More general information on the disease can be found on The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website here.

The CDC recently posted on social media, outlining how long monkeypox lasts and what symptoms might look like.

As of Tuesday, 175 cases were reported in Dallas County, 35 in Tarrant County, 10 in Denton County and eight in Collin County. 

DYK? Monkeypox typically lasts 2-4 weeks. The illness can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. Learn more: https://t.co/0RrroH56r3. pic.twitter.com/2VDs2w1xc6

— CDC (@CDCgov) August 2, 2022