This story was by the Carolina Public Press.
So far, there have been no cases of monkeypox detected in state prisons, and the state鈥檚 prison system is preparing for the virus, a prison system spokesman said Wednesday.
spreads from skin-to-skin contact, contact with clothes or linens used by someone with monkeypox, exposure to respiratory droplets or other bodily fluids from someone with the virus.
The state prison system is currently screening prison residents for monkeypox and offering 鈥渢argeted vaccination in accordance with (federal and state) guidelines, sanitization, testing protocols, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine procedures, as well as treatment,鈥� said John Bull, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
All currently incarcerated people are screened once, and new residents are screened when they arrive, Bull said. The screen is a questionnaire 鈥渢o better determine the risk of an offender contracting monkeypox,鈥� Bull said.
鈥淚n the event individuals are suspected of having the virus, they will be presumptively isolated. If lab results confirm the monkeypox diagnosis, further interventions will be determined through extensive contact tracing,鈥� Bull said.
Bull said the agency is also trying to reduce the stigma associated with monkeypox.
During a recent town hall on monkeypox and the state prison system, a slideshow said that prison leadership 鈥渉as waived adverse actions for any conduct which offenders divulge during contact tracing that, under normal circumstances, could be an infraction (such as intimate contact with other offenders.)鈥�
The system is also waiving all medical copays related to monkeypox concerns.
At least have been confirmed as , according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes , according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
North Carolina鈥檚 first case was identified on June 23. According to state health information, nearly all monkeypox cases in North Carolina have been in men who have had sex with men.
Amid soaring infections, on July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a .
If there is a monkeypox outbreak in the state prison system, Bull said, the agency has contracts with outside medical experts, including UNC Health.
鈥淧risons has adequate doses of vaccine on hand and has administered vaccine to individuals who meet the current criteria established by NCDHHS,鈥� he said.
That includes gay or bisexual men, or transgender people who report having multiple sexual partners or anonymous sex, anyone who has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection and those who are taking medications to prevent HIV infection.
Those infected with monkeypox can have that can last for weeks. People are no longer infectious once the scabs have fallen off and a new layer of skin has formed, .
