US: Rare case of Monkeypox virus detected in Texas
Jul 17, 2021
Washington DC [US], July 17 : A rare case of a person infected with the monkeypox virus has been detected in the US state of Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed on July 15 a case of human monkeypox in a US resident who recently traveled from Nigeria to the United States," the CDC in a press release said on Friday.
The infected individual is currently hospitalised in the city of Dallas. The individual travelled from Lagos, Nigeria, to Dallas with a layover stop in Atlanta, and health officials are working to contact airline passengers and others who may have had contact with the infected individual, the release said.
According to CDC, Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body. Most infections last 2-4 weeks. Monkeypox is in the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes a milder infection.
The CDC believes the spread of monkeypox through respiratory droplets to others on airplanes and in airports is low, the release added.
Prior to the current case, there have been at least six reported monkeypox cases in travellers returning from Nigeria (including cases in the United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore). This case is not related to any of these previous cases, CDC added.
