As the monkeypox outbreak spreads, the CDC is encouraging anyone who develops 'a new, unexplained skin rash' on any part of the body to seek medical care immediately and avoid contact with others.
usually start to appear one to two weeks after exposure, but the incubation period can be as short as five days or as long as 21 days, according to the CDC.
Prior to this pandemic, monkeypox symptoms usually began with fever, headache, back aches and lethargy lasting one to two days, Lewis said last month. Traditionally, next a rash will appear, which starts as red discoloration in the skin. It usually starts on the face and then progresses to the arms and legs, then hands and feet, and then the rest of the body. This phase also lasts one to two days.
In this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention handout graphic, symptoms of one of the first known cases of the monkeypox virus are shown on a patient's hand June 5, 2003.After about two weeks of symptoms, the lesions then start to crust and scab over, and the scabs last for another week before falling off. Scars and skin discoloration may persist after the scabs are gone, but you're no longer contagious after the scabs have all fallen off.