Home Contra Costa County Contra Costa Health Confirms 31 Cases of Monkeypox

Contra Costa Health Confirms 31 Cases of Monkeypox

by ECT

On Tuesday, Contra Costa Health Services provided an update and briefing on both monkeypox and COVID-19 in Contra Costa County. The update was provided at the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor Meeting.

Deputy Health Director Erika H. Jenssen highlighted last Thursday there was a public health emergency issued by the federal government and State of California regarding monkeypox—including counties such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego who wanted more flexibility in the response efforts with funding and staffing.

“We have been working hard to vaccinate our most vulnerable members with a very limited vaccine supply,” said Jenssen including an education campaign.

Health Director Ori Tzvieli says the virus will cause sores for several weeks which begins with flu like symptoms followed by rash or sores. He also explained most people are not at high risk of monkeypox as it spreads through skin to skin contact—not droplet or airborne like COVID.

“There are no reported deaths in the US despite over 6,000 cases,” said Tzvieli. “Only 3 percent of cases in California have had people end up in the hospital. But it is extremely painful and can leave scares.”

In Contra Costa County, he said they are concerned about the growing number of cases with 31 cases and another 13 suspected cases.

According to Tzvieli:

  • 31 confirmed cases
  • 13 suspected cases
  • 16 of 31 cases in West County
  • 10 of 31 cases in Central County
  • 10 of cases are in Hispanic/Latino men
  • 1,300 cases in California confirmed—majority in San Francsico and Los Angeles Counties.
  • 845 people have been vaccinated in Contra Costa County
  • Waiting list of 1,800+ who have expressed interest in vaccine
  • 1,800 vaccines have been allocated by the State to Contra Costa County which will come in stages throughout August. 720 doses came in so far.
  • San Francsico got 10x doses Contra Costa County
  • Alameda County got 3x doses as Contra Costa County
  • Contra Costa County has requested more doses from the state and still waiting to hear back
  • Online scheduling for monkeypox is coming soon

“We are really concerned over the scarcity of vaccine,” said Tzvieli. “Our demand is far exceeding our supply in Contra Costa County and California.”

COVID-19 UPDATE

Jenssen explained that the new variants of COVID remain widespread in the community and a new vaccine was coming this fall which would be more effective against the new variants

Hospitalizations have increased slightly to 112 hospitalizations daily according to Jenssen and all the hospitals are able to handle COVID-19 care. They are also seeing higher concentration of COVID in the wastewater over the past 2-weeks.

Boosters will be available in the fall, however, the timeline and eligibility have not yet been determined.

“We really want to encourage people who have not gotten any boosters to get them now and not wait,” said Jenssen noting that people with 2-boosters are 96% less likely to die than those unvaccinated. “It still gives you very good protection.”


Per Contra Costa Health Services Website

Contra Costa Health Services, along with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and other agencies, are monitoring a growing outbreak of monkeypox cases in the United States and California. Visit the CDPH monkeypox tracking page f​or the latest information about confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox in the county.

While it is good to stay alert about any emerging public health outbreaks, the current risk of getting monkeypox in the general public is very low, outside of certain activities that increase the chance of exposure.

Contra Costa County First Case of Monkeypox

On July 12,  the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors received a briefing on Monkeypox in Contra Costa County who now have a single case. According to Dr. Sofe Mekuria, she confirmed during the meeting that Contra Costa County has a single case which can cause a serious illness while people can catch it from close contact, but most people are not at high risk at this time. —  Full Story

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1 comment

Your mom Aug 15, 2022 - 6:51 am

Why is it that the stats only showed that 10 of the cases were from Latino men, what about the rest of the cases, why is the “Latino men” stat any more important than the other 21 confirmed cases, what does highlighting that help us with? none of the other 21 cases were singled out by race and sex.

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