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California declared a monkeypox emergency. What are the Sacramento-area counties doing?

Ali Bajwa

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(KTXL) — Gov. Gavin Newsom officially declared California’s monkeypox outbreak as a state of emergency, as the state leads the nation with the most confirmed and probable cases.

The state’s first reported case of monkeypox was in Sacramento County on May 24. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, California has 826 confirmed and probable monkeypox cases, as of Tuesday.

How are health officials from the Sacramento-area counties responding to Newsom’s state of emergency?

Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak. What does this declaration do?
Sacramento County
In an email to FOX40, Sacramento County Public Information Officer Samantha Mott said Tuesday the county’s public health department is not considering declaring a local public health emergency at this time.

But she added that the county is waiting for additional vaccine allotment information from the state.

As of Wednesday, Sacramento County has 63 confirmed and probable cases of monkeypox, according to the Department of Health Services’ website. Wednesday’s case count is 11 more than Tuesday.

Placer County
Health officials in Placer County are not considering declaring a local emergency for monkeypox, Health and Human Services PIO Katie Combs Prichard told FOX40 in an email.

Currently, Placer County has two confirmed and probable cases of monkeypox, according to the California Department of Public Health. The county’s first reported positive case of monkeypox was reported on July 27.

Health officials said the individual was likely exposed due to in-state travel.

California health officials request for more monkeypox vaccines
Yolo County
Although Yolo County has not yet had a confirmed case of monkeypox, officials told FOX40 in an email that they’ve made preparations because it’s “presumed” they will have one in the near future.

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According to Yolo County PIO John Fout, Dr. Aimee Sisson, the county’s health officer, would have a “much higher threshold” for declaring a local emergency than COVID-19.

“This is because monkeypox spreads differently and is not a novel virus,” Fout said.

Monkeypox and COVID-19: What are the differences and how do they spread?
How does monkeypox spread?
According to California health officials, the way monkeypox can spread is by very close and/or prolonged contact with someone with symptoms, including through:

Close physical skin-to-skin contact
Large respiratory droplets spread by face-to-face interaction
Touching contaminated materials like bedding, towels, clothing or other objects
Monkeypox can also spread when a person comes into contact with an animal infected with the virus, health officials said.

Where and how to get the monkeypox vaccine in Sacramento County
What are monkeypox symptoms?
According to the Sacramento County Public Health, symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

Health officials say a fever appears within one to three days, a rash is developed, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body.

The time from infection to symptoms usually takes seven to 14 days, but can range from five to 21 days and the illness typically lasts two to four weeks, according to health officials.

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