Miami, FL – The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County continues to respond to the monkeypox cases and reminds communities of symptoms, prevention and treatment. To date, there have been no monkeypox-related deaths outside of endemic countries. The risk of monkeypox to the general population remains low. DOH-Miami-Dade is reminding communities of prevention and treatment of monkeypox.

In the event of a monkeypox case, DOH-Miami-Dade continues to conduct epidemiological investigations to notify possible exposures and offer potential post-exposure prophylaxis. DOH-Miami-Dade will offer the monkeypox vaccine to high-risk groups as doses become available from the federal government.

If health care providers suspect a possible case of monkeypox, immediatelycontact your local health department or the 24/7 disease reporting hotline at 850-245-4401. Local county health departments can help providers obtain monkeypox virus-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

Up to date information on monkeypox is available at FloridaHealth.gov. Case data for monkeypox, as well as other reportable diseases, can be found on FLHealthCharts.gov.

Prevention and Treatment

Human-to-human transmission generally requires prolonged, face-to-face contact, direct contact with lesion materials, or indirect contact with lesion materials through contaminated items, such as contaminated clothing. Therefore, the risk of exposure remains low.

Health care providers should remain vigilant of information related to monkeypox:

• Monkeypox symptoms, especially among individuals with relevant travel history.
• Transmission and incubation periods.
• Specimen collection.
• Infection control procedures in the home and hospital settings.
• Clinical recognition, and the characteristic rash associated with monkeypox.
• Prophylaxis and possible treatments for monkeypox.
• Monitoring of those exposed to monkeypox.