Tag Archives: weather

Science

Betelgeuse’s ‘Great Dimming’ had an unlikely observer: a Japanese weather satellite

Leave a comment

Astronomers have a new way to study stars: take advantage of meteorological satellites orbiting Earth. 

That’s the conclusion of a new paper that presents new data from a Japanese weather satellite that just so happened to observe the red supergiant star Betelgeuse during a period of inexplicable dimming. The serendipitous observations could mean a new tool for astronomers trying to understand how a red supergiant star loses mass and ultimately explode as a supernova. 

The second brightest star in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse (pronounced “bet-orl-gerz” or “beetlejuice”) is the 10th-brightest star in the night sky. But from October 2019 through February 2020, it dramatically dimmed to about two-thirds its normal brightness. This so-called “great dimming” event led to speculation that it was about to explode as what scientists call a Type IIP supernova, which it will certainly do within the next 100,000 years. 

Related: Orion and its dimming star Betelgeuse shine over a stargazer in this sentimental night-sky photo

Scientists analyzing the event used predominantly data from ground-based optical telescopes. Astronomers mostly concluded that Betelgeuse’s dimming was the result of either its surface cooling, a new band of dust forming around it or both. 

Ground-based telescopes cannot see through dust and gas in the cosmos, which requires infrared vision. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere blocks infrared radiation as well as X-rays, gamma rays and the majority of ultraviolet rays. So only space-based observatories can see infrared light — and that includes weather satellites like Himawari-8 (opens in new tab), one of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s geostationary weather satellites.

And Himawari-8’s astrophysics debut began in an unlikely place: Twitter. 

“We saw a tweet stating that the moon was in its images,” Daisuke Taniguchi, a Ph.D. student in astronomy at the University of Tokyo and first author of the paper, told Space.com. “I chatted with [third author] Shinsuke Uno on the usage of meteorological satellites for astronomy, found Betelgeuse is in the field of view of Himawari-8 and realized that maybe the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse could be investigated.”

Himawari-8 has been positioned 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth’s equator since 2015 to study weather and natural disasters (including the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano on Jan. 15). Although the satellite is up there to image Earth every 10 minutes, the edges of its images include stars. 

Taniguchi and his colleagues were able to see Betelgeuse in images taken throughout Himawari-8’s lifetime and measured its brightness roughly every 1.7 days between January 2017 and June 2021. And the satellite’s Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) studied Betelgeuse in two ways. 

“In the optical and near-infrared wavelength ranges, the circumstellar dust veils the light from the stellar surface,” Taniguchi said, explaining that the researchers — like the astronomers limited to using ground-based telescopes — were able to estimate the amount of circumstellar dust around Betelgeuse. 

However, circumstellar dust emits only mid-infrared light. “By the observation of such mid-infrared light we can see the dust itself and we can directly measure the time-series of the amount of dust around Betelgeuse,” Taniguchi said. The team concluded that the “great dimming” in 2019 and 2020 was caused by two factors in almost equal proportion: the star’s temperature fell by approximately 250 degrees Fahrenheit (140 degrees Celsius) and dust condensed from warm gas around the star. 

Crucially, this theory is in broad agreement with what astronomers using ground-based telescopes concluded. For example, a study led by the Chinese Academy of Science cited giant sunspots and temperature fluctuations while results from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and from the Hubble Space Telescope suggested Betelgeuse ejected a huge cloud of gas that cooled and condensed into dust. 

The scientists’ new findings suggest that meteorological satellites could be used as space telescopes for astronomy. “It enables us to obtain high-cadence time series of mid-infrared images, which are hard to acquire with the usual astronomical instruments,” reads the paper. As well as not being able to record near-infrared data, ground-based telescopes lose sight of some stars for a few months as the sun drifts in front of them. 

“This is a possibility I haven’t seen explored much previously,” Emily Levesque, author of “The Last Stargazers” and an astronomer focused on red supergiant stars at the University of Washington who was not involved in the new research, told Space.com. 

“It certainly depends in part on serendipity, but observations like these could prove to be a fabulous resource for bright, nearby red supergiants,” she said. “Particularly since they could complement the upcoming capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is well-suited to observations of dimmer targets.” 

Observing stars in the mid-infrared is the best means of directly observing emission from dust around them, Levesque noted, because it can help create a multi-wavelength picture of massive stars and their evolution. After all, mass loss and dust production plays a key role in a star’s red supergiant stage. 

“The mid-infrared has also historically been difficult to observe,” she said, adding that NASA’s soon-to-be decommissioned SOFIA airborne observatory has filled a gap while JWST will soon become an invaluable mid-infrared resource. “Combined with creative solutions like the ones presented in this paper we’ll hopefully continue to build a much clearer view of red supergiants in this wavelength range in the coming years.” 

The authors have already begun using Himawari-8’s data for other stellar projects. “I believe that our concept of using a meteorological satellite as a space telescope is useful for several kinds of topics in astronomy, especially in time-domain stellar astrophysics,” Taniguchi said, referring to the emerging area focused on how astronomical objects change over time. His group is now using Himawari-8 data to make a catalog of how older stars vary in infrared brightness over time and also to search for fleeting infrared signals. 

At about 548 light-years away (opens in new tab), Betelgeuse is the closest red supergiant star to the solar system. It’s about 15 to 20 times the mass of the sun and about 900 times larger. If the giant was at the center of our solar system, then Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt would all be inside Betelgeuse. 

And whenever Betelgeuse does go supernova, it could shine as bright as a full moon for a few months. The end result will be a neutron star at the center of a beautiful bubble of glowing material created by the explosion. However, scientists don’t yet know exactly how a red supergiant star behaves in the weeks before it explodes. 

The research is described in a paper (opens in new tab) published Monday (May 30) in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Jamie Carter is the author of “A Stargazing Program For Beginners (opens in new tab)” (Springer, 2015) and he edits WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamieacarter. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook. 



Read original article here

US

Hurricane Agatha: Storm rapidly intensifies in the eastern Pacific as it heads toward Mexico

Leave a comment

Agatha, the first hurricane of the eastern Pacific season, had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph as of 10 p.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said, up from 60 mph sustained winds at the same time Saturday night. Wind gusts of up to 130 mph were reported.

Agatha is now just shy of a Category 3 storm and is expected to continue gaining strength before making landfall Monday evening near Salina Cruz, Mexico.

The storm is located about 125 miles southwest of Puerto Angel, Mexico, according to the Sunday night update.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Salina Cruz to Lagunas de Chacahua. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Salina Cruz eastward to Boca de Pijijiapan and Lagunas de Chacahua westward to Punta Maldonado.

Tropical storm conditions were expected to arrive across southern Mexico Sunday night with hurricane conditions arriving in the warning area Monday.

“Storm surge could produce coastal flooding near and to the east of where the center passes the coast in areas of onshore winds,” the National Hurricane Center said. “The surge may be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”

In addition to storm surge, heavy rains from Agatha will hit portions of southern Mexico by Sunday into Tuesday night.

“The heaviest rain is forecast across the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where 10 to 16 inches are expected but isolated totals up to 20 inches is possible,” the hurricane center said.

After crossing land, the remnant low of a dissipated Agatha could reemerge into the southern Gulf of Mexico by the middle of this week.

The National Hurricane Center has highlighted a 30% chance of development over the next five days across the region.

Read original article here

Science

Never-before-seen meteor shower may light up Utah’s sky Monday

Leave a comment

Infrared image of Comet SW3 taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in 2006. The comet has been breaking up since 1995, providing possible conditions for a meteor shower Monday evening. (NASA, JPL, Caltech)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Patience might pay off for stargazers Monday night, as a new meteor shower with the potential of lighting up the sky in a dramatic fashion may appear.

Astronomers suspect the material from a small comet, SW3, may cause a significant meteor shower, called the Tau Herculids, which will peak around 11 p.m. Monday, according to space.com.

Space.com columnist Joe Rao indicates the shower may have the intensity of stronger annual meteor showers. These showers are known to produce up to a hundred meteors per hour, as indicated in a rundown of 2022 meteor showers by the same space blog.

As an added bonus, there is a small possibility the Tau Herculids could whip itself up to a larger meteor outburst or storm, where thousands of meteors per hour could be seen streaming out of the night sky, Rao explains in his article.

However, all models and forecasts could come to naught and the night sky could remain dark Monday night into Tuesday morning. It all depends on the timing of Earth’s and Comet SW3’s orbits.

Patrick Wiggins, a local astronomer and NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador to Utah, said that if the Tau Herculids reaches its full potential, the resulting display would rank among the most powerful meteor storms in history. Rao compared the best-case scenario to the Leonid Meteor showers 20 years ago.

No one can tell for certain what will happen, though. A recent blog post by NASA is more conservative, not even indicating a storm as a possibility.

Wiggins calls the potential for a storm a “big if.” Yet that won’t dissuade him from watching.

“The only thing certain is I’ll be watching,” he said.

The possibility of a shower

Meteor showers happen when Earth encounters a swarm of debris left behind by a comet.

In a journal article for the International Meteor Organization on the 2022 Tau Herculids shower, Rao wrote that by 11 p.m. Mountain Monday, Earth will cross paths with SW3’s orbit just ahead of the comet itself. This seemed to make the possibility of any meteor activity in 2022 nonexistent.

However, with more modeling, Rao determined that it is possible for SW3’s cloud of debris to be traveling ahead of the comet, just enough to produce a shower. Two other studies support his findings, he writes.

What’s more, Rao points to a similar comet breakup in the early 1800s, which resulted in the Andromedid meteor storms of 1872 and 1885. Rao’s paper suggests that the similarities between these two comets could support a tau Herculids storm forecast.

Notes for watching

If you plan to watch, Rao suggests the following the normal protocol for viewing a meteor shower: warm clothing and a hot drink to combat the chill, a reclining chair to support your neck, and a red flashlight to persevere your night vision.

Meteor shower names are usually formed after the point in the sky from which meteors radiate, usually a constellation. When discovered in 1930, the Tau Herculids were expected to radiate from the constellation Hercules, Rao’s paper said.

Today, the radiant will be closer to the constellation Bootes. To find this constellation, locate the handle of the Big Dipper and arc your vision toward the first bright star you see: Arcturus, the brightest star in Bootes.

You do not need to look directly at the radiant to see meteors in a shower. Science writer and former Hansen Planetarium director Mark Littman wrote a book on the Great Leonid meteor storms of the 19th century, in anticipation of the 1998 and 1999 showers, entitled “The Heavens on Fire.” In this book, he explains that looking away from the shower’s radiant will actually allow you to see longer tails.

If a storm happens, though, and thousands of meteors do rain down, looking directly at the radiant will give the illusion of flying through space, similar to a Federation Starship on the TV series “Star Trek,” Littman illustrated.

Rao cautions that since the expected meteors will be catching up to Earth on Monday night, they will also appear fainter, making a dark sky imperative. He adds that an eventual storm would be “short-lived; not more than several hours.”

And of course, the weather is the ultimate factor in any astronomical event.

“Watch the skies,” Wiggins said, borrowing from the old sci-fi adage. “Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”

Photos

Ryan Boyce is a lover of science and history. His first writing project was compiling the history of space exploration on his 3rd grade teacher’s computer, and he hasn’t stopped writing since.

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Health

Logan homeowner concerned about avian flu risk after finding dead turkey vultures

Leave a comment

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

LOGAN — A Cache County homeowner hoping a solution will emerge over a potential avian flu hazard in his backyard as he cautions others about the potential risk.

Bruce Jorgensen said the turkey vultures that have resided in the tall trees behind his Logan house for over a decade have always left quite a mess.

“They poop a lot,” he said Monday, shrugging. “That’s been a pain, but this year it’s a biohazard.”

Jorgensen said he was already aware of an avian flu outbreak when he found two of the birds dead on his property last week. He said testing subsequently determined the deceased turkey vultures had the disease.

According to Jorgensen, wildlife officers and health officials cautioned him not to touch any of the birds and provided him with instructions on how to mitigate the risk on the property.

Because turkey vultures are considered protected wildlife, however, under the jurisdiction of U.S. Fish and Wildlife, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources spokesperson confirmed that officers could not remove the birds and could only suggest how to potentially “haze” them from the trees and occasionally help with that process.

“Yeah, put up balloons,” Jorgensen nodded.

He said he bought a couple, including one that said, “I’m Sorry,” and launched them into the trees to no avail.

“It’s just not viable to put a balloon up that high in a forest and have it magically stay up there to scare the birds,” Jorgensen said.

He estimated as many as three dozen turkey vultures called the trees home. Even though he has routinely and carefully cleaned his backyard, much of the area under the trees on Monday evening was still heavily littered with bird droppings.

Given that avian flu is often transmitted through fecal droppings, Jorgensen expressed concerns about the ongoing health risk.

“Everywhere you look, there’s poop stains and the smell of Clorox,” he said.

The guidance from the Utah DWR stated that while the current strain of avian flu presented a “low risk” to people, it still was transmissible to humans, as evidenced by a recent case in Colorado.

The division urged people not to touch dead birds if they see them. If they see a bunch of dead birds — five or more — including waterfowl, shorebirds, wild turkeys, quail, raptors and scavengers found near waterfowl habitats, those people were to contact a local DWR office or call 801-538-4700.

Additional guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes further information on what to do to stay safe.

“My preferred option would be to euthanize them,” Jorgensen said. “I don’t know that you can come to downtown Logan and start shooting them.”

Jorgensen said with the protected status of the birds, he wasn’t sure what the solution was, but hoped one emerged.

“Everywhere they sit, they contaminate,” Jorgensen said.

Related stories

Andrew Adams

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Entertainment

Boston Calling resumes after festival-goers evacuated due to severe weather

Leave a comment

Dark clouds bringing heavy rain and the threat of lightening dampened Boston Calling attendees as they were evacuated from the festival grounds Saturday afternoon.

Through the downpour, festival workers directed crowds to sheltered areas within Harvard Stadium or out to the Harvard Square area.

“Fans who exit the festive grounds will be permitted to re-enter,” said an announcement to the crowd. “Stay tuned for updates.”

Many festival-goers, especially those who had just arrived or were only attending for the day, were disappointed. Attendees did acknowledge, however, that it was just bad luck and that the weather can’t be controlled.

Noah, 23, of Boston, said he arrived to the festival 10 minutes before the rain started.

“We basically got to eat, and then [we had to go], so I feel pretty bummed out,” he said sheltering under an awning near Havard Stadium. “Hopefully it ends soon — the rain.”

The weather, however, has been only one of many bumps in the road for this year’s Boston Calling. Headliner Rage Against the Machine canceled in January, then Foo Fighters in March after drummer Taylor Hawkins died unexpectedly on tour. The Strokes — another headliner set to play Saturday — suddenly had to drop out due to a positive COVID diagnosis, disappointing many fans.

The band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced day-of that they also had to drop from Saturday’s line-up due to a positive COVID diagnosis.

Spirits, however, attempted to stay positive as the crowd sheltering underneath an awning outside of the Havard Stadium began to clap and sing.

“We get to listen to at least some music,” Noah noted with some levity as some of the crowd continued their claps and chants. “You can’t be [angry], it’s weather, right?”

Others held onto the hope that things would resume shortly as the rain moved through the area.

“I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to go back in, but who knows with the weather,” said Alison, 22, a college student and another member of the huddled awning-crowd. She said she had been checking the weather before the day kicked off.

“I just thought we would be partying in the rain,” she said. “I didn’t really think they’d stop and kick us out.”

The crowd’s optimism, however, was rewarded, as the rain stopped around 5:15 p.m.

A rainbow appears after the severe thunderstorm roll through Boston at the Boston Calling Music Festival. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Boston Calling officially announced the festival would re-open at 5:30 and music would resume at 6 p.m.

And as crowds moved their way back into the grounds, a large rainbow stretched across the sky. Despite heavy rain, a two-hour delay and last-minute band cancellations, the show must go on.

Read original article here

Science

Mars lander’s final selfie on red planet shows why its mission is ending

Leave a comment

This is the last time we’ll ever see a selfie from NASA’s InSight lander on Mars. And judging by the amount of dust coating the lander’s solar panels, it’s easy to see why. (NASA, JPL-Caltech)

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

PASADENA, Calif. — This is the last time we’ll ever see a selfie from NASA’s InSight lander on Mars. And judging by the amount of dust coating the lander’s solar panels, it’s easy to see why.

The stationary spacecraft captured the image on April 24 using its robotic arm, which will soon be placed into a final resting position called “retirement pose” this month. In order to take a selfie, the arm has to move several times, and that won’t be possible anymore.

“Before losing more solar energy, I took some time to take in my surroundings and snapped my final selfie before I rest my arm and camera permanently in the stowed position,” the InSight account tweeted on Tuesday.

Due to a decreasing power supply, the mission will cease scientific operations by the end of late summer. It has been revealing the mysterious interior of Mars since landing in November 2018.

InSight’s solar panels have been increasingly covered in red Martian dust, despite creative efforts by the mission’s team on Earth. This accumulation will only worsen as Mars now enters winter, when more dust is lofted into the atmosphere.

These floating particles reduce the sunlight available to charge the solar panels that power InSight, which is currently working on an extended mission that was expected to last through December. The mission achieved its primary goals after its first two years on Mars.

The final selfie shows that the lander is covered with far more dust than it was in previous selfies from December 2018 and April 2019.

The lander went into safe mode on May 7, when its energy levels dropped, causing it to cease everything but essential functions. The team anticipates this could happen more frequently in the future as dust levels increase.

The stationary lander is only able to collect about one-tenth of the available power supply it had after landing on Mars in November 2018. When InSight first landed, it could produce about 5,000 watt-hours each day on Mars, the equivalent of what it takes to power an electric oven for an hour and 40 minutes.

Now, the lander produces 500 watt-hours per day, enough to power an electric oven for just 10 minutes. If 25% of the solar panels were cleaned, InSight would experience a power boost sufficient to keep it going. The spacecraft has witnessed many dust devils, or whirlwinds, but none have been close enough to clear off the solar panels.

“We’ve been hoping for a dust cleaning like we saw happen several times to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers,” said Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “That’s still possible, but energy is low enough that our focus is making the most of the science we can still collect.”

By the end of the summer, the team will turn off the seismometer, end science operations, and monitor what power levels remain on the lander. At the end of the year, the InSight mission will conclude.

The InSight team, however, will still listen for any possible communication from the spacecraft and determine if it could ever operate again.

The lander’s highly sensitive seismometer, called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, has detected more than 1,300 marsquakes from hundreds and thousands of miles away. InSight detected the largest one yet, a magnitude 5, on May 4.

“Even as we’re starting to get close to the end of our mission, Mars is still giving us some really amazing things to see,” Banerdt said.

The data collected by InSight so far has revealed new details about the little-known Martian core, interior layers and crust. It has also recorded weather data and analyzed the remains of the magnetic field that once existed on Mars.

InSight’s steady stream of data heading to scientists on Earth will stop when the solar cells can no longer generate enough power. But researchers will be studying the detections made by InSight for decades to come in order to learn as much as possible about our enigmatic planetary neighbor.

Related stories

More stories you may be interested in



Read original article here

Health

CDC publishes guidelines on monkeypox vaccine

Leave a comment

The CDC on Friday published recommendations by its group of independent experts on a smallpox vaccine that limit its use to only people who work closely with viruses such as monkeypox. (Tami Chappell, Reuters)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday published recommendations by its group of independent experts on a smallpox vaccine that limit its use to only people who work closely with viruses such as monkeypox.

The Jynneos vaccine, made by Bavarian Nordic, will be available for certain health care workers and laboratory personnel at a time when monkeypox infections has spread in Europe, the United States and beyond.

The vaccine was approved in the United States in 2019 to prevent smallpox and monkeypox in high-risk adults aged 18 and older.

CDC officials earlier this week said they were in the process of releasing some doses of the Jynneos vaccine for people in contact with known monkeypox patients.

Officials said there were over 100 million doses of an older smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000, made by Emergent BioSolutions, which has significant side effects.

Monkeypox is a mild viral infection that is endemic in certain parts of Africa, but the recent outbreak in countries where the virus doesn’t usually spread has raised concerns.

So far, there are about 300 confirmed or suspected cases in around 20 countries where the virus was not previously circulating. The Salt Lake County Health Department two confirmed cases of monkeypox in Utah on Wednesday. The World Health Organization has called for quick action from countries to contain the monkeypox spread.

The CDC said its experts’ recommendations are meant for clinical laboratory personnel performing diagnostic tests for orthopoxviruses such as smallpox and monkeypox, laboratory people doing research on the viruses and health care workers who administer the ACAM2000 vaccine or care for patients infected with orthopoxviruses.

The publication of the vote by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which took place in November last year, formalizes the recommendations.

Both ACAM2000 and Jynneos are available for prevention of orthopoxvirus infections among at-risk people, the CDC said on Friday.

Contributing: Amruta Khandekar

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Health

Wildlife officials confirm bird flu cases in 6 Utah counties

Leave a comment

A baby great horned owl sits in its nest in Salt Lake City on April 8, 2014. Utah wildlife officials said Thursday that six counties now have confirmed bird flu cases in wild birds. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah wildlife officials say six counties now have confirmed bird flu cases in wild birds.

Ten infected birds have been found in Cache, Weber, Salt Lake, Utah, Tooele and Carbon counties. They include Canada geese, great horned owls, hawks, pelicans, turkey vultures and ducks, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said.

Officials are awaiting test results from other dead birds, the division said in a Thursday news release.

Two pelicans found May 13 and a Canada goose found May 16 on the Scofield Reservoir shore are among the most recent bird deaths tied to the sickness. All three were collected by wildlife officials and sent to state facilities for testing.

“The Department of Environmental Quality confirmed the drinking water from Scofield Reservoir would not be impacted by avian flu, since the water is treated. Normal recreational activities, such as fishing and swimming should also not be impacted,” officials said.

Songbirds are not typically affected by the bird flu. Wildlife officials urged those who may find a group of five or more dead waterfowl or shorebirds, or dead scavengers or raptors, to report it to the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office “and absolutely make sure not to touch the birds or pick them up.”

“We are continuing to monitor this virus in wild bird populations. It typically doesn’t have much of an impact on the overall populations of waterfowl, but it’s likely that we will have some die now that it’s been confirmed in wild birds in the state,” said Ginger Stout, veterinarian with the Division of Wildlife Resources.

Ashley Imlay covers state politics and breaking news for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Health

CDC confirms Utah cases are monkeypox

Leave a comment

Dr. Angela Dunn, executive director of the Salt Lake County Health Department, speaks about monkeypox during a press conference at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Monday. (Mengshin Lin, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Health Department announced Wednesday that two local cases of monkeypox have been confirmed.

The department announced Monday that there were two probable cases in Salt Lake County, and was awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A health department spokesperson said that the two infected adults, who live in the same home, are in isolation and there is no risk to the public. The two individuals are also both expected to fully recover.

On Monday, Salt Lake County health officials said the two people developed symptoms after traveling internationally earlier in May. Preliminary tests led them to believe that the individuals had monkeypox.

The county health department is working to contact anyone who may have been in close contact with the known cases while they were infectious.

People who have monkeypox are not contagious until they show symptoms, which is typically between seven and 14 days after infection. It is spread through close personal contact, including during sex.

“This is not easily spread from human to human,” said Dr. Angela Dunn, executive director at the Salt Lake County Health Department. “We are not talking about COVID here. It is really that direct contact with individuals who have monkeypox and that’s how it’s spreading right now. So for the general public, there’s not a great risk.”

Monkeypox is typically found in Africa but cases have recently appeared throughout Europe, as well as in New York, Florida, Washington and Massachusetts.

The CDC said several U.S. counties reported clusters of monkeypox in May, and the exposure of each case is unclear. The agency said the cases “include people who self-identify as men who have sex with men.”

The CDC is asking health care providers to watch for rashes that are consistent with monkeypox in any patients.

The smallpox vaccine can be used to treat early patients. The Salt Lake County health department said they are making sure they have supplies to receive and distribute the vaccine if necessary, but there have not been any high-risk exposures in the state and they have not yet asked for any of the vaccine to be sent.

Related stories

Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Health

CDC confirms Utah cases are monkeypox

Leave a comment

Dr. Angela Dunn, executive director of the Salt Lake County Health Department, speaks about monkeypox during a press conference at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Monday. (Mengshin Lin, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Health Department announced Wednesday the two local cases of monkeypox have been confirmed.

The department announced Monday that there were two probable cases in Salt Lake County, and were awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A health department spokesperson said that the two infected adults, who live in the same home, are in isolation and there is no risk to the public. The two cases are also both expected to fully recover.

On Monday, Salt Lake County health officials said the two people developed symptoms after traveling internationally earlier in May. Preliminary tests led them to believe that the individuals had monkeypox.

The county health department is working to contact anyone who may have been in close contact with the known cases while they were infectious.

People who have monkeypox are not contagious until they show symptoms, which is typically between seven and 14 days after infection. It is spread through close personal contact, including sex.

“This is not easily spread from human to human,” Dr. Angela Dunn, executive director at the Salt Lake County Health Department said. “We are not talking about COVID here. It is really that direct contact with individuals who have monkeypox and that’s how it’s spreading right now. So for the general public, there’s not a great risk.”

Monkeypox is typically found in Africa but cases have recently appeared throughout Europe, as well as in New York, Florida, Washington and Massachusetts.

The CDC said several U.S. counties reported clusters of monkeypox in May, and the exposure of each case is unclear. The agency said the cases “include people who self-identify as men who have sex with men.”

The CDC is asking health care providers to watch for rashes that are consistent with monkeypox in any patients.

The smallpox vaccine can be used to treat early patients. The Salt Lake County health department said they are making sure they have supplies to receive and distribute the vaccine if necessary, but there have not been any high-risk exposures in the state and they have not yet asked for any of the vaccine to be sent.

Related stories

Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here