Skip to main content
Michigan’s nonpartisan, nonprofit news source

Informing you and your community in 2025

Bridge Michigan’s year-end fundraising campaign is happening now! As we barrel toward 2025, we are crafting our strategy to watchdog Michigan’s newly elected officials, launch regional newsletters to better serve West and North Michigan, explore Michigan’s great outdoors with our new Outdoor Life reporter, innovate our news delivery and engagement opportunities, and much more!

Will you help us prepare for the new year? Your tax-deductible support makes our work possible!

Pay with VISA Pay with MasterCard Pay with American Express Pay with PayPal Donate

Monkeypox confirmed in Michigan; first case is in Oakland County

July 22: Michigan monkeypox cases climb; state limits 2-dose vaccines to single dose

An Oakland County resident is the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the state, Michigan public health officials reported Wednesday,

Neither Michigan Department of Health and Human Services nor Calandra Green, Oakland County health officer, would release any details about the person infected.

“I can tell you that the person is isolating at this time,” Green said.

Related: 

The person “poses no threat to the public,” she added.

The health department has begun contact tracing, but Green noted the disease is contagious only when a rash is present and until scabs fall off, which is typically two to four weeks.

Monkeypox is spread through “direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, bodily fluids or prolonged face-to-face contact,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan's chief medical executive .

Monkeypox has been detected in residents of 27 states and Washington, D.C., with a total of 349 cases prior to the announcement of Michigan’s case, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention.

Monkeypox was first detected in the United States on May 18 and has been found in 50 other countries, with the United Kingdom reporting the most cases, 1,076, according to the CDC.

The viral disease is not usually fatal, and symptoms are similar to smallpox, but milder: fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a “rash that looks like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

However, anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has monkeypox is at risk.

The CDC has said it’s not clear how people have been exposed to the virus, but early data suggest that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up a high number of cases. 

The 2022 outbreak has refocused attention on the viral disease first discovered in 1958 when the  pox-like disease occurred in  research monkeys, and then spread to humans in 1970, according to the CDC.

On Tuesday, the U.S. the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would distribute 1.6 million doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine nationwide this year to curb the spread of monkeypox.

The vaccines will be first distributed to areas where monkeypox has been detected.

How impactful was this article for you?

Michigan Health Watch

Michigan Health Watch is made possible by generous financial support from:

Please visit the About page for more information, and subscribe to Michigan Health Watch.

Only donate if we've informed you about important Michigan issues

See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:

  • “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
  • “Not many other media sources report on the topics Bridge does.” - Susan B.
  • “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.

If you want to ensure the future of nonpartisan, nonprofit Michigan journalism, please become a member today. You, too, will be asked why you donated and maybe we'll feature your quote next time!

Pay with VISA Pay with MasterCard Pay with American Express Pay with PayPal Donate Now