Mpox cases rising in San Francisco, health officials say

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Francisco Department of Public Health says mpox cases are on the rise again.

Over the past five weeks, there have been seven confirmed cases of the disease previously called "monkeypox."

Since the start of the year, the city has been averaging one case per month.

MORE: Monkeypox: Everything you need to know about origin, infection, vaccines, and treatment

There was a spike in San Francisco last year that led to a scramble to find the mpox vaccine because of a shortage.

Mpox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents. But the disease wasn't known to spark big outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread easily among people until May of 2022, when dozens of epidemics emerged in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

Mpox most often causes symptoms including a rash, fever, headache, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes. The skin lesions can last up to a month and the disease is spread via close physical contact with an infected patient or their clothing or bedsheets. Most people don't need medical treatment to recover.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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