News, Nation’s first MPX case in healthcare worker exposed on the job is reported in L.A. County : detailed suggestions and opinions about Nation’s first MPX case in healthcare worker exposed on the job is reported in L.A. County .
The first U.S. healthcare worker to be infected with MPX while on the job has been reported in Los Angeles County, public health officials said Tuesday, the day after the county confirmed the nation’s first MPX death.
“We have identified a healthcare worker with monkeypox who appears to have been exposed to the virus at their worksite,” Dr. Rita Singhal, chief medical officer for the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said in a presentation to the Board of Supervisors. “This is the first case of monkeypox in a healthcare worker in the United States that has been linked to a worksite exposure.”
Singhal said the county has consulted about the case with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, but the risk of MPX for healthcare workers “remains very low.”
The L.A. County Department of Public Health declined to answer additional questions about the healthcare worker’s condition or how the virus was contracted, but Singhal said officials will continue to share information about infection prevention with medical professionals, including personal protective equipment guidance.
