Monkeypox Guidance 2026

CDC’s Website for Healthcare Professionals on Monkeypox

What Is Monkeypox - General FAQs

The CDC/ DPH Health Alert Network Notification- HAN on MONKEYPOX as of June, 2022

What is monkeypox?

Monkeypox is an illness caused by monkeypox virus. It is closely related to smallpox but is usually a less severe illness. It is most common in central and western Africa, but recently cases of monkeypox have been identified in several other countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including the US.

When do monkeypox symptoms start?

The time between exposure and onset of symptoms can range from 5-21 days, but it’s usually 7-14 days. A person is not contagious during this period.

What are the symptoms of monkeypox?

Illness may start with fever, chills, headache, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, and sometimes sore throat and cough. A few days later, a rash develops in one area and then spreads to other parts of the body. A person is contagious from the time symptoms start until the rash resolves.

How do people get monkeypox?

Monkeypox spreads between people primarily through direct contact with an infected person’s sores, scabs, or body fluids. It also can be spread during prolonged, face-to-face contact. Monkeypox can spread during intimate contact between people, including during sex, as well as activities like kissing, cuddling, or touching parts of the body with monkeypox sores. At this time, it is not known if monkeypox can spread through semen or vaginal fluids.

The virus may also spread through contact with materials that have touched an infected person’s body fluids or sores, such as clothing or linens.

Request for TPOXX/Tecovirimat Antiviral

While there are currently no treatments specifically approved for mpox, therapeutics developed for patients with smallpox have been deployed during the 2022 mpox outbreak. Use of Tecovirimat (TPOXX) and other treatments should be considered in patients who may benefit from them.

TPOXX should no longer be requested through DPH, but instead through patient enrollment in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Study of Tecovirimat for Human Monkeypox Virus (STOMP) trial or directly through CDC. Providers with patients with mpox who decline enrollment in or are ineligible for STOMP, or who require intravenous tecovirimat treatment, and meet treatment eligibility under the EA-IND protocol (e.g., have severe disease or involvement of anatomic areas that might result in serious sequelae, are at high risk for severe disease), can request tecovirimat by calling the CDC Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at (770) 488-7100 or poxvirus@cdc.gov.

Details for patients and providers about who may benefit from TPOXX or other medical countermeasures and more information on obtaining TPOXX can be found at the links below:

Obtaining TPOXX for patients and providers: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/clinicians/obtaining-tecovirimat.html

TPOXX treatment and who may benefit: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/clinicians/Tecovirimat.html

https://dph.georgia.gov/mpox-antivirals#:~:text=Is%20TPOXX%20only%20effective%20if,risk%20of%20becoming%20severely%20ill.

MonkeyPox Swab Testing Instructions

THEY CAN DISCHARGE THE PATIENT into HOME ISOLATION until the test results return (a few days)

Molecular Testing (indicated for most acute cases):
- Sample type: Vesicle fluid, skin, crust, “roof”
- More than one lesion should be sampled, preferably from different locations on the body and/or from lesions with differing appearances.
- Duplicate swabs should be taken from each lesion – the purpose of this is so that there are 2 swabs from each lesion, 1 to be tested at the state public health lab and, if positive, 1 to forward to CDC for confirmation from the same lesion. Please package these swabs separately.
- Swab(s) of lesions
  - Swab at least two lesions, two swabs per lesion.
    - Use a separate sterile nylon, polyester, or Dacron swab with plastic or thin aluminum shaft for each collection.
    - Re-swab the same lesion using a new sterile swab. This will result in two separate swabs per lesion. (note: please store and package swabs separately, one swab per container).
    - Do not use other types of swabs than described here.
    - Place each swab in an individual collection tube or sterile container without media. Write site of collection on each container and indicate swab 1 or 2 (ex. “right forearm swab 1” and “right forearm swab 2”).
  - Label each collection tube or sterile container with at least 2 patient identifiers (e.g., name, date of birth, address, etc.) along with collection site
  - Refrigerate (2-8°C) or freeze (-20°C or lower) specimens within an hour after collection. Specimens only should be frozen if shipment will be delayed more than 24-48 hours.

Resources for providers: providers can be given our monkeypox webpage for copies of the HAN as well as isolation guidance for their patients: https://dph.georgia.gov/monkeypox/information-providers

Which Labs are Testing for MonkeyPox

At the time of this letter, five commercial laboratories are offering monkeypox testing in Georgia:
LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, Aegis Sciences, Sonic Healthcare, and Mayo Clinic Laboratories.

Because not all clinics and providers have access to these labs, testing is still available through the Georgia Public Health Laboratory.

Testing for Mpox

Information on commercial testing can be found here, please work directly with your commercial laboratory for the most up-to-date information on specimen requirements and turn-around times

Commercial Testing Guidance for GA Providers 07.20.2022

Information on testing at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory can be found here –

GA Health Alert Network (HAN) 06.13.2022

Providers looking for lab results

Providers looking for lab results

Lab results are typically available between 24-48 hours after they arrive at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory (GPHL). We recommend providers check with their lab staff to identify if they have access to view lab reports in apollo (the laboratory system that the GPHL uses).

If it has been at least 72 hours since specimens arrived at GPHL, please obtain the following information
- Provider name, facility, email, and phone
- Patient name, date of birth, MPX # (if known)
Send chart to contactpublichealth@dph.ga.gov with title, Provider needs MPX results

Reporting Positive Results

Reporting Positive Results

If a laboratory or provider is calling to report positive monkeypox laboratory results on a patient, please collect all information as standard to include:

-provider, facility, contact information,

-laboratory/lab test completed, date of test

-patient demographics (name, DOB, address, race, ethnicity, phone)

Please FAX the TS info chart to the DISTRICT EPI of where the patient lives. You will need SENDSS access to do this.

Also, encourage Providers to report POSITIVE MPOX results directly in SENDSS.

Home Isolation Instructions

DPHs Home Isolation Instructions

Vaccine Guidance

Vaccine Guidance

Get the vaccine if you:

Are a gay, bisexual, or other same-gender loving man who has sex with men or are transgender, gender non-binary, or gender-diverse.
Have had sexual or intimate contact with someone who may have mpox.

Get vaccinated as soon as possible after exposure, regardless of your sexual or gender identity, AND

if you, in the last 6 months, have had or expect to have
One or more sexually transmitted infections
A weakened immune system because of another illness, like HIV
Sexual or intimate contact with a person who is at risk of mpox
Anonymous sexual or intimate contact, or more than one sexual partner

If the caller is just asking where they can obtain vaccine, direct them to this website… they can schedule vaccine online for public health clinics: https://dph.georgia.gov/mpox

Testing Guidance

Some districts will take appointments for visits, and some accept walk ins. Best for individuals to call their local health department for guidance.

District 1-1: 706-295-6704 www.nwgapublichealth.org

District 1-2: 706-529-5757 www.nghd.org

District 2-0: 770-535-5743 www.phdistrict2.org

District 3-1: 770-514-2300 www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.org

District 3-2: 404-613-1205 www.fultoncountygahealth.org

District 3-3: 678-610-7199 www.claytoncountypublichealth.org

District 3-4: 770-339-4260 www.gnrhealth.com

District 3-5: 404-294-3700 www.dekalbhealth.net

District 4-0: 706-845-4035 www.district4health.org

District 5-1: 478-275-6545 www.southcentralhealth.info