ATLANTA — Georgia health officials have confirmed a third case of monkeypox.
The Department of Public Health said the patient is a metro Atlanta man who recently traveled to Chicago.
DPH said this case is not related to the two earlier cases, so officials are doing contact tracing to determine where the man contracted the virus.
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, back pain, muscle aches and lethargy. It can also cause a rash and lesions on the face or genitals. The illness can be fatal in up to 11% of people who become infected.
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There is no known treatment for the virus, but smallpox vaccines and antiviral treatments can be used to help control outbreaks.
Still, health officials say monkeypox is much less transmissible than the coronavirus and that the risk to the public is low. Many of the cases have been travel-associated and occurred in men.
The illness is endemic to Africa and has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond the African continent.
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