Utah confirms first monkeypox cases

Health officials on Wednesday announced the first cases of monkeypox in Utah, the Salt Lake County Health Department confirmed.

Threat level: Health officials said the cases do not pose a risk to the public.

• The county health department on Monday announced it had detected two "probable" cases of the virus in two Salt Lake County adults living in the same household. Both are in isolation.
• Each became symptomatic after traveling abroad in an undisclosed region encountering cases.
• Both are each experiencing mild symptoms but are expected to recover.

Driving the news: Although monkeypox infections in the U.S. are considered rare, according to the CDC, a recent uptick of cases have popped up in North America and Europe this month.

• Some early symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.
• The virus is not known to spread easily between people, but transmission can occur through prolonged face-to-face contact and exposure to bodily fluids.

The first case of monkeypox in the U.S. this year was confirmed in Massachusetts last week, Axios reported.