The state health department is encouraging people in a high-risk category to get the mpox vaccine following two recent cases were identified.
Officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said they are the first cases in in the state since April, and they were reported in different counties, suggesting a wider spread of the virus.
The mpox virus has also been identified in one of 12 monitored wastewater sites.
NCDHHS is working with local health departments and community partners to raise awareness about mpox, promote testing, and increase vaccine
Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, and exhaustion, followed by a rash and the illness spreads through direct contact or body fluids.
In the current outbreak, most cases have been in men who have sex with men, and over half of the cases in North Carolina have been in people living with HIV.
