While the disease is considered rare, this is the second case recorded in the United States this year. In July, a Texas resident also returned from Nigeria with the virus. As with that incident, the CDC is working with international health counterparts, the airline, and state and local health officials to inform and interview airline passengers and others who may have been in contact with the patient. Because travelers on the flight to the United States were required to wear masks on the plane as well as in U.S. airports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health officials believe the risk of transmission to passengers via respiratory droplets was low. Investigators are also exploring who may have been in contact with the virus-carrier after arrival. Although the virus is seldom seen in the United States, the CDC stresses that monkeypox can make people very sick and it may be deadly in a small percentage who contract it. The illness typically begins with flu-like symptoms (fever, headaches, muscle aches) along with swelling of the lymph nodes. It then progresses to an itchy rash on the face and body — often noticeable on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Most infections last two to four weeks. Monkeypox comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox but typically causes a milder infection, according to the CDC. Federal laboratory scientists have found that the newly identified infection matches a strain that has been reemerging in Nigeria since 2017 after more than 40 years there with no reported cases. Since that year, 218 cases have been confirmed in Nigeria and eight cases have been recorded in international travelers from Nigeria, including the case in Texas in July and this current one. Prior to these two 2021 cases, the last incidents of monkeypox in America were in 2003 when 47 people became infected after having contact with pet prairie dogs carrying the virus. “Cases can be clearly linked to specific exposures that can be avoided,” said Jennifer Horney, PhD, professor of epidemiology and core faculty with the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware in Newark. People can get the virus if they are bitten or scratched by an animal, prepare wild game, or have contact with an infected animal or possibly animal products. Dr. Horney warned, however, that illnesses associated with unsafe domestication of wild animals (such as monkeypox) can potentially spread around the globe. The CDC is urging the public and healthcare providers to be on the lookout for poxvirus-like lesions, particularly among travelers returning from Nigeria. Because of the health risks linked with a single case of monkeypox, suspected cases should be reported immediately to state or local public health authorities.
