First pediatric case of monkeypox ID'd in N.H.

CONCORD — The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and the City of Manchester Health Department this week identified the state’s first pediatric monkeypox virus infection, in a child from Manchester. The child became infected after an identified exposure to a household contact diagnosed with monkeypox. The child has mild illness and is isolating at home.

“Monkeypox virus is spread primarily through direct physical contact to another person with monkeypox who has developed infectious skin lesions,” said Dr. Benjamin Chan, State Epidemiologist. “Our public health team is working to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus so we can connect them with preventive vaccination, but the risk to the general school population and others in the community is very low.”