Monkeypox Arrives In The Rio Grande Valley As Water Crisis Continues
The Monkeypox case count has officially begun in the Rio Grande Valley. Cameron County public health officials received confirmation of the first documented case of monkeypox in the region on Tuesday.
Cameron seems to be much more prepared compared to what we saw in the early days of COVID-19 from some health authorities on the border. According to the release by Cameron County Public Health, the department is performing contact tracing from the very first case.
South of the border, northern Tamaulipas reported its first case of monkeypox on June 15 in Nuevo Laredo, and Laredo has been managing a few cases from June as well.
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My radio report for Texas Public Radio today:
More Coverage on Texas Public Radio:
From Gaige Davila’s story above:
“It might come out to be a little out of control for a bit,” she said. “But I do think that by working together with (health) providers, working with individuals, to identify contacts, we might be able to contain it before it gets completely out of hand and there (are) mass vaccinations.”
The development is especially concerning as it comes at a time when the region is already suffering from a very severe water shortage, with local experts saying that running out of water here “is a real possibility.”
This creates the hazard of a compounding effect, as we saw when Texas hospitals struggled with water issues during the COVID-19 pandemic when water pipes burst due to an extreme winter in 2021.
The next question of course is — how prepared is healthcare on the border if the water runs out? More coming soon.
