At any moment on any given day, Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert has a number of public health concerns on her radar.

And while the obscure and somewhat exotic specter of monkeypox is certainly one of them, she is assuring all her constituents across Newtown, Roxbury, and Bridgewater that the summer of 2022 harbors a number of higher priority concerns folks should be worried about.

“The Health District is monitoring the monkeypox situation,” Culbert told The Newtown Bee this week, “but the District also wants residents to continue to prioritize their health and safety regarding the many risks — and benefits — of their local daily lives and activities.”

Culbert recognizes that it is the height of summer and everyone is busy, and she is relieved that there have been no reported cases across her jurisdiction to date.

“But it’s important to balance the activities and the safeguards. Tick bite prevention, sun, and swimming safety, responsible driving and boating safety, hydration with the heat, moderation with food and drink, and managing stress — that and more are on our minds,” she said.

As of July 19, the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reported that Connecticut had 14 cases of monkeypox diagnosed among its nearly 3.6 million residents.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health said at least the first dozen infected patients were between the ages of 20 and 50, and live in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties. The majority of the patients have not been hospitalized, officials said.

As of mid-July, more than 1,400 cases have been identified in the United States. Connecticut’s first case was announced July 5.

“Monkeypox spreads through close prolonged contact with an infected person,” Dr Manisha Juthani, state health commissioner, said in a statement. “This might include coming into contact with skin lesions or body fluids, sharing clothes or other materials that have been used by an infected person, or inhaling respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact.”

Although anyone can get and spread monkeypox, the current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. For those who have multiple or anonymous sex partners, their likelihood of monkeypox exposure is high.

Residents concerned about fever, swollen glands and a new rash should contact their health care provider, Juthani said.

More Vaccines Coming

Due to the state’s current low case count, health officials said Connecticut has not received a substantial allotment of the monkeypox vaccine from the federal government. More doses are expected soon.

Meanwhile, thousands more doses of monkeypox vaccine are expected to soon begin shipping to the US after federal health officials said they had completed an inspection of the overseas plant where they were manufactured.

Experts want people to know that there are tests, treatments and vaccines for monkeypox. The viral disease is typically endemic in several central and western African countries.

“This is a known pathogen that did exactly what we predicted it could potentially do” — spread on a larger scale, said Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who recently spoke at a virtual expert panel hosted by Yale University.

Monkeypox usually spreads through close physical contact, including direct exposure to bodily fluids like saliva. The virus causes a rash, and if it first appears in the genital area, it could be mistaken for something like a sexually transmitted disease.

That’s why Nathan Grubaugh of the Yale School of Public Health says community testing needs to be scaled up.

“It might make ordering these tests easier, especially in the circumstances when the symptoms resemble so many other common diseases,” he said.

Diagnostic testing for monkeypox is now available from commercial laboratories, including LabCorp, Mayo Clinic, and Quest, and providers can order testing from these laboratories as they would order other diagnostic tests. Testing is available through the State Public Health Laboratory, Monday-Friday.

Culbert said in Newtown and her other district communities, the Health District is monitoring monkeypox information as it becomes available.

“We regularly attend calls with the State Health Department and the CDC,” she said. “We want to remind residents that at this time it is relatively rare, far less common than Covid-19, and want to emphasize the importance of avoiding those who have symptoms.”

Although there have been no cases reported in the district as of July 19, Culbert admitted that, “We won’t be surprised if we are notified of cases in the future.”

“We will then work with those individuals to be sure they isolate, monitor their health and the health of any of their contacts,” she assured. “Supportive treatment is available and its use would be determined by a healthcare provider. As always, we want to be sure to provide good information so residents can make informed decisions, and for those who are diagnosed, that they are properly supported so they can fully recover and limit/stop the spread.”

Culbert is pointing residents who want to know more to the CDC website for additional information: cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html

Connecticut Public Radio’s Nicole Leonard and the Associated Press contributed to this report.