Washington: The first two U.S. cases of monkeypox in children have been confirmed as part of a record outbreak of more than 2,800 infections nationwide.
Both cases are “likely the result of household transmission” and “had no contact with each other,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
One is a toddler who lives in California and the other is in an infant who is not a resident of the U.S. and was “transiting through” the Washington, D.C. area when the test was done.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky first disclosed news of the cases at a virtual event with The Washington Post on Friday, saying that both children “are doing well.”
Children, especially those under 8 years old, are among those the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns are at “especially increased risk” for severe monkeypox disease.
Monkeypox, which causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, has been spreading largely in men who have sex with men in the recent outbreak, outside the central and west African countries where it is endemic. The disease spreads chiefly through close contact.
