PEORIA - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently raised its alert level for monkeypox after more than two dozen cases were identified in the United States. The agency set its alert level at Level 2 , which comes with a recommendation to wear a mask while traveling, along with other enhanced precautions . Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus. When someone is infected, the illness presents with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion, which then progresses to a painful rash and lesions. The illness typically lasts between two to four weeks. Despite its elevated alert level, the CDC maintains the risk for contracting monkeypox is low for the general public. OSF HealthCare infectious disease physician Dr. Douglas Kasper agrees. He says the virus spreads only after what he calls “intimate exposure” with someone who is acutely ill with the virus. “Monkeypox lesions are infective when they
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