Monkeypox Information & Guidance for Providers

Lake County healthcare providers should be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox, regardless of whether they have travel or specific risk factors for monkeypox and regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Suspected cases may present with early flu-like symptoms and progress to lesions that may begin on one site on the body and spread to other parts. Illness could be clinically confused with a sexually transmitted infection like syphilis or herpes, or with varicella zoster virus. Thus far in the U.S. outbreak, all patients diagnosed with monkeypox in the United States have experienced a rash or exanthem. Although the characteristic firm, deep-seated, well-circumscribed and sometimes umbilicated rash has been observed, the rash has often begun in mucosal areas (e.g., genital, perianal, oral mucosa) and in some patients, the lesions have been scattered or localized to a specific body site rather than diffuse and have not involved the face or extremities.

People with Monkeypox in the current outbreak report having close, sustained physical contact with other people who have monkeypox. While nearly all affected are gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has monkeypox can get the illness.

See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinical Recognition webpage for more characteristics and photos of monkeypox rashes.

Access the CA Department of Public of Health (CDPH) Monkeypox Toolkit to download and share the following tools:

Reporting

To report suspected cases, please call CD department 707-263-1090 and complete a Confidential Morbidity Report (CMR) (PDF) and fax to 707-262-4280.

Case Finding & Management Guidance

Testing

Commercial labs such as Quest, LabCorp and other private labs are now testing for Monkeypox. There is no need to contact County of Lake Health Services for approval to test at commercial laboratories but providers must still report all suspect cases to County of Lake Health Services within 1 working day. To report suspected cases, please complete a Confidential Morbidity Report (CMR) (PDF) and fax to 707-262-4280.

Vaccine

For vaccine guidance please visit, CDC Monkeypox and Smallpox Vaccine Guidance. Additional resources:

Treatment

CDC Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved an amendment and continuation of its research protocol to increase access to monkeypox treatment by providing umbrella regulatory coverage for clinicians and facilities and liability coverage for compensation to patients if injured. County of Lake Health Services will be issuing an advisory for Lake County healthcare providers and facilities that provides information necessary obtain and use Tecovirimat (TPOXX) if clinically indicated.

For more information, please visit CDC Treatment Information page.