At least 14 Arkansas county now have at least one confirmed Monkeypox case, the virus continues to spread statewide

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — The number of counties affected by monkeypox and the number of new cases that have been added to the tally for this week in Arkansas continue to rise.

According to a report that was released by the Arkansas Department of Health on Friday, the state now has 14 of its 75 counties with at least one case of the disease within their boundaries. Before the past week, the number of Arkansas counties with confirmed cases of the disease stood at 12.

The number of confirmed cases of the disease in the state rose to 50 on Friday, representing a 22% increase over the previous week’s total of 41 confirmed cases. On July 3, the first case of monkeypox to be diagnosed in the state was recorded.

As the number of monkeypox cases increases in Arkansas, the state is adding more counties to the affected area.

The most instances have been reported in Pulaski County, which now has 30, which is an increase from the previous week’s total of 25. The counties of Faulkner and Washington, both located in the northwest, continue to mention three cases apiece. Benton, Crittenden, and Desha counties each have two cases apiece, whereas Benton and Crittenden counties each had a single case a week earlier. Desha county only has one case.

The remaining counties on the ADH list, Pope, Cross, Lee, Lonoke, Saline, Garland, and Hot Springs, as well as Craighead, each have a single incidence of the disease. The list has been updated with the addition of two counties this week: Hot Springs and Craighead.

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Alterations are also occurring in demographics. The ADH reported last week that there were no cases of female illnesses anywhere in the state. There are currently two percent of female cases of monkeypox, with four percent of cases involving an undetermined gender. When broken down by race, there are 58% more cases of infection in black people, 32% in white people, 4% in Asian people, and 6% in “other” people. A side note: According to the CDC, those who identify as Hispanic make up 12% of the total number of cases that have been recorded.

The age groups between 25 and 34 and 35 and 44 had the same number of infections, 13, as the previous week. On Friday, the age group from 25 to 34 years old had the highest number of cases, with 19, followed by the age group from 35 to 44 years old, which had the second highest number of cases, with 16. The age range of 18 to 24 years old has the same number of instances as before, four. The age group of 45-64 years old has been recorded with 10 cases, whereas the age group of 55-64 years old has only one case.

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Both the Department of Health and the Little Rock School System sent out emails on September 8 addressing an in-school exposure that was deemed to be of low risk by the school district.

According to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 21,504 cases reported across the country.