FILE – This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. WHO’s top monkeypox expert Dr. Rosamund Lewis said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it’s spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago may somehow be speeding its transmission. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, File) The Florida Department of Health is reporting a monkeypox case in Lee County. This marks the first case in Lee County. A previous case was reported in Collier County. According to FDOH data, there are 154 cases of monkeypox across the state of Florida with the majority (98) in Broward County. In Miami-Dade County, there are 26 cases. The first case in Collier County was reported on July 1. Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. An FDOH-Lee County spokesperson declined to say how the individual may have contracted the virus. They also declined to disclose any potential travel history. “FDOH-Lee is conducting epidemiological investigations to notify possible exposures and has the vaccine available as potential post-exposure prophylaxis,” a spokesperson said. According to the Florida Health Department in Collier County, monkeypox typically begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a rash on the face and body. The duration of the illness is usually between two to four weeks. Monkeypox comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox. Monkeypox is much milder and rarely fatal. “The monkeypox strain we are seeing right now is primarily affecting members of our LGBTQ community and especially men who have sex with men,” said Kristine Hollingsworth, public information officer for Florida’s Department of Health in Collier County. There are two vaccines licensed by the FDA to treat monkeypox and those are being rolled out along with a diagnostic test that is launching through Quest Diagnostics. For more information, visit F-DOH.