Texas: Toddler in Harris County Believed to Be the First Pediatric Case of Monkeypox in Lone Star State

Texas is keeping a wary eye on the potential spread of the monkeypox virus, as a toddler from Harris County was believed to have contracted the disease.

In a press conference on Tuesday morning, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the child under the age of two is now presumed positive for the monkeypox virus.

Hidalgo noted that the child is currently "doing well" and is expected to fully recover. The judge said this case was believed to be the first pediatric case of monkeypox in Texas, KXAN reported.

Hidalgo said officials have yet to know how the toddler contracted the monkeypox, adding that the kid has not been in daycare or school.

According to New York Post, the presumed case will not be confirmed until testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is done. Hidalgo said it will take about a week to have the testing results back.

Hidalgo did not identify the toddler. However, the judge noted that they had been in contact with the child's family, who were fully cooperating with officials. At the moment, Hidalgo said the toddler's only symptom was a rash.

The Texas toddler's family was reportedly helping in the contact tracing with the people the child has been in contact with. However, Hidalgo noted that they are still in the early stages of contact tracing.

Several Texas Cities Declare Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency

Last week, several cities in Texas declared monkeypox a public health emergency. According to Texas Tribune, officials from Dallas and Austin declared monkeypox a public health emergency to get in line for federal funding and to let the residents know that the virus was serious and should take precautionary measures amid a short supply of the vaccine.

"As we're running out of vaccines and medications, we want to engage our community and ask them to help us stem the tide, the spread of the disease," said Austin-Travis County Medical Director/Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes.

Walkes also asked the public to allow local officials to get what they need to treat people and vaccinate those exposed to the virus. Major cities in Texas have already received thousands of monkeypox vaccine doses. However, Austin Mayor Steve Adler noted that it was not enough.

"We need the federal government to do everything it can to increase the availability of medicine and vaccines to our community," Adler said in a news conference last week.

Monkeypox Cases in Texas

As of August 16, CDC recorded 1,047 monkeypox cases across Texas. The Lone Star State is among the five states with thousands of monkeypox cases.

New York remains to have the most number of monkeypox cases, with 2,620. California was next with 1,945 cases, while Florida and Georgia were also in the top 5 with 1,268 and 1,013 cases, respectively.

According to CDC, the total number of monkeypox cases in the U.S. was 12,689 as of August 16.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: U.S. Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Public Health Emergency - From ABC News