The Montgomery County Office of Public Health has confirmed four cases of monkeypox. Kenny Cooper, WHYY, covered this latest healthcare threat.

County health officials are now investigating the viral infections and using contract tracing on the patients to identify close contacts.

Montco isn’t the only suburban geography facing the issue; cases were also identified in Delaware County (“less than 10” according to officials), Bucks County (six), and Chester County (one). Those municipalities, too, are tracing and monitoring.

The disease, characterized by a signature rash, spreads most commonly through close physical contact, including hugging, kissing, and sexual activity. It is related to smallpox but is milder.

Collar county health officials are not overly worried about the presence of monkeypox. But they are focusing on education and awareness as tactics for fighting it.

Anyone with an unexplained rash or flu-like symptoms is urged to see a healthcare provider immediately.

Another priority is to destigmatize the infection, which is being mischaracterized as a malady centered on the area’s gay men.

Chester County Health Department Director Jeanne Franklin explained that any type of close contact puts people at risk, “…not only through sexual activity.”

Franklin went onto explain that overgeneralizations do more harm than good. They create false senses of security, mistakenly based on individual behaviors rather than the general closeness that spreads the infection.

More on monkeypox in Montgomery County is at WHYY.