Martin County reports Florida’s first monkeypox case in child under 4

Martin County has reported Florida’s first case of monkeypox in a child under 4 years old. In all 1,266 infections have been reported statewide.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Health's Reportable Disease Frequency Report listed the case of the infectious disease.

Officials confirmed the case happened within the last week.

In all, there are nine juveniles cases with all of the others in the 15-19 age group.

Six monkeypox cases have been reported in Martin County and three in St. Lucie County on the Treasure Coast.

Miami-Dade has the most cases with 493, Broward at 436 and Palm Beach County at 59 cases.

Twenty-eight of the state's 67 counties have reported at least one case.

New York leads the country with 11,890 cases, then California with 2,376 and Florida ranks third, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas is fourth with 992.

The first case was reported in May — an adult male in Massachusetts who recently traveled to Canada.

The virus is spread "mostly through close, intimate contact with someone who has monkeypox," according to the CDC.

The federal agency recommends vaccination for people who have been exposed to monkeypox and people who are at higher risk of being exposed to monkeypox. People who have received a smallpox vaccine decades ago are considered vaccinated.

According to the CDC, monkeypox is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox. The CDC and the World Health Organization have published data showing that the smallpox vaccine is 85% effective in preventing monkeypox infection.

Smallpox vaccinations ended in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States.

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