LA County confirms first monkeypox death

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed the area's first death from the monkeypox virus. 

Monday's development comes about four days after the county investigated the death as possibly linked to monkeypox. In addition to being the first Los Angeles County death, the person's death marks the second death in the United States connected to monkeypox.

Prior to Monday's confirmation, Dr. Rita Singhal, chief medical officer for the county Department of Public Health, said the county will be working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state as it investigates the circumstances of the person's death.

According to Singhal, worldwide, there have been "seven confirmed deaths among monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries."

As of last Thursday, there were 1,805 confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox identified in the county, the vast majority of them involving gay men.

Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. The main difference between symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy) while smallpox does not. The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7−14 days but can range from 5−21 days.