Kids and staff at one Philly school were potentially exposed to monkey pox, but health officials say the risk is ‘very low’

Children and adults at one Philadelphia public school were potentially exposed to a staffer with a documented case of monkeypox — but the staffer is recovered and now back at school.

The exposure happened at Richmond Elementary School, where a teacher with a confirmed case of the virus works.

Monkeypox, sometimes known as mpox, is spread through skin-to-skin contact with an infected person who has sores or scabs. Symptoms — including fever, headache, muscle aches, and rash that can range from mild to very painful — appear a week to two weeks after exposure. Though not a sexually transmitted disease, mpox is most often spread through sexual contact. There have been no reported cases or symptoms among Richmond students or staff.

» READ MORE: Are you at risk of getting monkeypox? Here’s everything you need to know.

People with mpox are contagious until their rashes scab over and the scabs fall off.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health notified select members of your school community of a potential low-level exposure to mpox,” said a letter from the Richmond principal sent to staff Friday. “It is very unlikely that people with low-level exposure will develop mpox. If you did not receive a notification letter from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, you have no exposure risk.”

The principal, in the letter, said the school “has taken the necessary precautions to protect students and staff.”

Kendra McDow, the district’s chief medical officer, stressed in an interview that the risk of transmission was minimal. She praised the staffer for coming forward earlier in February, and said once officials were notified of the staffer’s health status, they immediately notified the city health department, which conducted an investigation. The staffer remained out of the building during the contagion period.

Oz Hill, the district’s chief operating officer, said officials were in contact with the city to discuss cleaning protocols, and that “our routine standard cleaning certainly doubled down to ensure that all supplies in the school were adequately stocked and the staff was certainly familiar and appropriately trained.”

According to city health department data, four cases of mpox were reported a week in Philadelphia in January. Altogether, 587 cases have been reported since June 2022.

James Garrow, a spokesperson for the city health department, said officials “are still seeing sporadic cases in the city, one or two per week, if that, but nothing like we had a couple years ago when we saw dozens and dozens. We continue to do efforts to encourage folks who would be at high risk to get vaccines.”

More than 8,000 first doses of the mpox vaccine have been administered in recent years.

Garrow stressed that the Richmond case was “a very low-risk type of situation” and said the health department worked closely with the district.