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BOSTON (WBZNewsRadio) - Massachusetts General Hospital has begun vaccinating some employees for monkeypox.
All of the workers receiving the vaccine had direct contact with a man being treated for monkeypox at MGH. He was admitted for eight days earlier this month.
This marks the first time the monkeypox vaccine has been used in the U.S outside of clinical trials.
Monkeypox has been identified in at least seven states in the U.S., including Massachusetts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is now monitoring nine cases in Florida, Utah, Washington, California, New York, and most recently in Virginia.
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, chills, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. Within three days, patients typically develop a rash and lesions, which eventually scab over and fall off.
More than 370 cases have now been reported around the world in an outbreak, after the first cluster was reported in the United Kingdom in April.
The World Health Organization said the majority of the cases have spread through sexual contact, but cautioned anyone could be at risk of contracting the virus. The WHO also said it remains unlikely mass vaccinations will be required to combat a potential outbreak, but cautioned the public to be aware of the virus, practice good hygiene and safe sex.
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