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University of Houston explains their plan should Monkeypox cases be reported on campus

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Published  August 26, 2022 10:44pm CDT
Monkeypox
FOX 26 Houston

University of Houston preparing for possible Monkeypox cases

FOX 26 Reporter Tiffany Justice spoke with university officials about how they're preparing for possible Monkeypox cases at the University of Houston.

HOUSTON - With more confirmed cases of monkeypox in the region, FOX 26 reached to the University of Houston to talk about their game plan, should there be a presumptive positive case.

"We’ve been thinking and planning on how to prevent and control monkeypox should we have an outbreak here on campus," says Dr. Stephen Spann, Vice-President of Medical Affairs for the University of Houston.

RELATED: Recently released inmate reacts to first Monkeypox case reported in Harris County Jail

The city of Houston has around 405 positive documented cases while Harris County officials say they have 492 cases. 

The CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 16,603 confirmed cases in all 50 states. In Texas, the case count increased to 1,374.

"I think we’ve been very proactive and have a solid plan in place," says Spann. "I think It’s important for people to understand how it’s contracted, and to avoid contact with people who are potentially infected."

RELATED: First case of Monkeypox reported in Chambers County

"I think fundamental to our plan is just education, being sure that our community understands what the disease is all about, how it spreads, and how to prevent it," says Spann. "So we’ve been communicating with our students, faculty and staff."

Spann says testing will play an important role, and they made sure testing is available on computers for students, staff and faculty. 

"We have been sure to have testing available on campus for our students at the UH Student Health Center, and for our faculty and staff at our UH family care center," says Spann. "It’s not a difficult test to do, basically swabbing the lesions and sending it off to the lab and takes two to three days to get the results."

MORE: Health officials caution parents about monkeypox as kids head back to school

"In addition to that, we’ve made contingency plans for isolations, particularly for students who live on campus and might not be able to get home. If they should be unfortunate to contract monkeypox, they would need to be isolated," says Spann. 

Medical officials say those who are Infected with monkeypox will generally go for a week or two before they’ll start to have symptoms, which are a fever and rash.