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Providers should consider monkeypox testing in patients who meet the epidemiologic criteria listed below and have a clinically compatible rash. Information on identifying cases is available at OCHCA’s Monkeypox webpage as well as at CDC’s site providing Key Characteristics for Identifying Monkeypox.
Epidemiologic Criteria for Monkeypox (Within 21 days of illness onset):
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Reports having contact with a person or people with a similar appearing rash or who received a diagnosis of confirmed or probable monkeypox OR
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Had close or intimate in-person contact with individuals in a social network experiencing monkeypox activity, this includes men who have sex with men (MSM) who meet partners through an online website, digital application (“app”), or social event (e.g., a bar or party) OR
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Traveled outside the US to a country with confirmed cases of monkeypox or where Monkeypox virus is endemic OR
- Had contact with a dead or live wild animal or exotic pet that is an African endemic species or used a product derived from such animals (e.g., game meat, creams, lotions, powders, etc.)
Providers who order monkeypox/orthopoxvirus testing must instruct patients to isolate while awaiting test results. Unless clinically indicated, people with monkeypox can safely isolate at home. Guidance on home isolation is available at Isolation and Infection Control: Home.
Providers should gather information about close contacts of suspect cases, including considering possible healthcare associated infection. Asymptomatic contacts do not need to quarantine after exposure but should monitor for symptoms.
Providers with patients who have new positive laboratory results for orthopoxvirus/monkeypox should contact OCHCA Communicable Disease Control Division at 714-834-8180 immediately.
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