When did you first hear about Monkey Pocks?

I first heard about Monkey Pocks, I think back in May.

This is Matt Ford.

He's an actor and a writer. He splits his time between New York and

L.S. But I didn't know anyone who had it and didn't really think it was anything

to be taken that seriously that immediately. Well, Matt says a few weeks later, that all changed.

So on Friday, June 17th, I got a call from someone I had had prolonged skin to skin contact with the weekend prior

informing me that he was pretty sure he had monkey pox he was just waiting on the

confirmed test result. You can probably guess what happened next. Matt says he

noticed a few lesions on his body

that weren't there before.

So he gets a test, and sure enough,

it came back positive.

Then came the symptoms, sore throat, cough,

full body chills, the whole nine. That was followed by more

lesions. A lot more.

So I counted more than 25 in total on my legs, feet, you know, arm, shoulders, hands, one on my scalp, and some of those were excruciatingly painful.

It would be a total of three weeks and three days before Matt was cleared to leave isolation.

And Matt says during that time, he was more before Matt was cleared to leave isolation.

And Matt says during that time, he was more or less in the dark.

For me it was very much figuring it out as it went along.

And I think my doctor even said that, because you know I was one of the earlier cases,

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