Toddler Presumed Positive For Monkeypox, Believed To Be The First Infected Child In Texas

A child under the age of 2 has tested presumptive positive for monkeypox in what is believed to be the first pediatric case in Texas.

The toddler is presumed positive for the virus until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms the test results, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a news conference Tuesday, according to KXAN News.

It could take about a week to get back the testing results, Hidalgo said.

"The child is currently expected to have a full recovery and is doing very well," Hidalgo said at the conference. "This child is under 2 years old. We are in contact and have been in contact with the family, who are fully cooperative. The family has helped us initiate contact tracing with the folks that this child has been in contact with. We are still in the early stages of contact tracing."

Officials currently do not know how the toddler contracted monkeypox as the child has not attended school or been in a daycare setting. The child also does not have any noticeable symptoms apart from a "residual rash." Parents had taken the child for an examination upon noticing the rash, Click2Houston reported.

"This is a rare case. This would be, as best we know, the seventh case in the country in a child, the only case of monkeypox of a child in the entire state of Texas," Hidalgo said.

Vaccines are reportedly being offered to those who were in direct contact with the child.

"I understand that it's a very scary thing, and parents have concerns, and what we need to make sure is to be vigilant and understand the risks, not assume the worst. But this reminds us that this is very real," Hidalgo said, as per ABC News.

"I understand this is a very, very worrisome for parents, especially as school is starting back up knowing that a child in our community has now contracted or as a presumptive positive for the monkeypox virus. It opens up a lot of questions about how this is spread," she continued.

Monkeypox is transmitted through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, including direct contact with an infected people's rash, scabs or body fluids, according to the CDC.

Those who contract the virus get a rash that may be painful or itchy. Other symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, fever, chills, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and backache.