West Chester University student tests positive for monkeypox, university says

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - West Chester University officials say a commuter student tested positive for monkeypox this past weekend.The case was reported by the university in a statement on Monday:"University health officials received confirmation this past weekend that a commuter student has tested positive for monkeypox."Officials say the students is currently isolating, and doing well.No other monkeypox cases have been reported at the university and there are no close contacts in Chester County, according to officials.According to officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, monkeypox is caused by a virus that is in the same genus of viruses that causes smallpox.Monkeypox, according to the CDC, was first discovered in 1958, following two outbreaks of a pox-like disease in colonies of monkeys that were kept for research.The first human case of the disease was recorded in a country now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.

Since then, the disease has been reported in people in several central and western African countries. Cases have also been reported in the U.S., as well as a number of Asian, Middle Eastern, and European countries.According to CDC's website, it takes usually seven to 14 days from the time of infection for a person to start feeling symptoms of the disease, but the incubation period can also range from five to 21 days.The illness, according to the CDC, begins with:CDC officials say within one to three days after the appearance of fever, the person infected will develop a rash, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body.