2nd death from monkeypox reported in Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Although cases are declining overall, a second person has died from monkeypox in Los Angeles County, health officials said Thursday.

The county’s first confirmed death from the infection was reported in September.

Details of the second death, including the person’s age and place of residence, have not been released for confidentiality reasons.

Doctors are urging those at risk who are immune-compromised to get the monkeypox vaccine and seek treatment right away if they are sick.

But even as the new death was reported, county health officials said the prevalence of the infection is much lower now than it was months ago.

According to senior medical director Dr. Rita Singhal, the county now has an average of three new cases of monkeypox per day.

For comparison, during the spike in cases two months ago, the county recorded about 20 new cases daily.

Since then, public vaccination efforts have helped contain the spread.

This week, the county has seen just one new case since Monday.

There are approximately 80,000 cases of monkeypox worldwide. There have been about 29,000 cases in the United States, with 11 deaths reported, Singhal said.

Los Angeles County, including the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which maintain separate health departments and statistics, has seen nearly 2,400 cases of monkeypox.