Persse on increase in monkeypox cases: 'The spread is actually with the skin-to-skin contact'

Officials are urging residents in the Houston area to practice precaution as monkeypox cases increase, according to reports from Houston-based media outlets.

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) confirmed a slight bump in cases in the state from 20 on Tuesday to 27 on Friday. Houston and surrounding areas account for about 40% of those cases, the station reported.

Dr. David Persse, the health authority for the City of Houston, said the public must acknowledge the existence of monkeypox, Houston FOX affiliate KRIV reported.

"What we are seeing with this current outbreak, is the spread is actually with the skin-to-skin contact," Persse said, according to KRIV.

He added that the virus – while not easily spread – can also be transmitted through droplets and fabrics, per the station.

Houston Daily reported that Dr. Luis Ostrosky, UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Health System chief of infectious diseases, told KHOU monkeypox has been around for a long time while the current transmission itself is new.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website that it's urging the nation's health care providers to be alert for patients who present rash illnesses that align with monkeypox, the publication reported.

The present spread of monkeypox occurs at the same time COVID-19 infections are on the rise.

Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that Harris County has tallied more than one million cases.

“We are in the midst of the worst surge of COVID-19 that we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic, in terms of the number of infected people out in the community,” Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. James McDeavitt told the station.

According to KPRC, physicians are advising residents to take precautions.