New Monkeypox Info Could Change Hygiene Practices in Your Urgent Care Center

As cases of monkeypox swelled to more than 14,000 in the United States—including the first case concerning a minor, in New York—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported evidence that monkeypox virus DNA can survive on surfaces for at least 20 days. State health workers in Utah found virus on 70% of 30 specimens swabbed from cloth furniture, blankets, handles, and switches in a home where patients had been isolating for 20 days. Both were still symptomatic at the time. While Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, notes that “epidemiologic data we have so far in this outbreak support that people are not contracting monkeypox through touching contaminated surfaces,” the CDC report suggests that anyone in close proximity to a patient suspected of having monkeypox should wear a well-fitting mask, avoid touching surfaces that could be contaminated, practice appropriate hand hygiene, and disinfected possibly contaminated surfaces.