North Gwinnett News

Gwinnett County school officials have confirmed a positive case of monkeypox at Dacula Elementary School.

According to a recent report by FOX 5 Atlanta, parents and community members were already made aware of the situation in a letter recently sent to them by school officials.

“I want to reassure you, we are taking this situation very seriously and the risk of monkeypox transmission in a school setting is very minimal," a spokesperson for the Gwinnett County Public Schools system said in the letter.

While the identity of the infected individuals has not been made public, school officials say the individual will remain off campus until cleared to return to school by medical officials.

According to the report, as of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports Georgia has confirmed 1,299 cases of the virus in the state, making it the fifth most infected state in the country, behind New York, California, Florida and Texas.

The most common symptoms of the disease include fever, body aches, chills and fatigue, while people hit with more serious illness may also develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body, the report states. In parts of Africa, where the disease is endemic, people have reported infections through bites from rodents or small animals.