Garland Health Department, in collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), has confirmed monkeypox in a Garland resident. The individual went to a Dallas hospital with a rash and was diagnosed through laboratory testing done at DCHHS.
This individual reported a history of international travel. They also reported contact with an attendee of Daddyland Festival who later was diagnosed with monkeypox. There is a concern for local, community transmission for anyone who attended these events and participated in activities that pose a high risk for monkeypox transmission.
Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can spread monkeypox through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores or shared items (such as clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids or sores of a person with monkeypox. Monkeypox virus can also spread between people through respiratory droplets typically in a close setting, such as people living in the same household or in a health care setting. Before developing a rash, monkeypox symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes and general body aches. Common household disinfectants can kill the monkeypox virus.
CDC Resources: www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html
DSHS Resources: https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/IDCU/disease/monkeypox/Monkeypox/
