US confirms first case of monkeypox in 2022 in Massachusetts

This is the first case detected monkey smallpox virus rare in the US in 2022.

The patient is an adult male who recently traveled to Canada, according to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The agency completed the initial testing on Thursday, May 17, and the results have been confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health stated in a press release: “The discovery of the monkey pox This does not pose a risk to the people, the patient has been hospitalized for treatment and is currently in good health. We are working closely with the CDC, relevant local health authorities, and the patient’s healthcare providers to identify people who may have come into contact with the sick person.”

The US detection of the first monkeypox case in 2022 comes after four more cases of this infection were recently identified in the UK, bringing the total number of patients in the UK to 9 cases. since the beginning of May.

The monkeypox virus can be transmitted from animals to humans or from person to person. (Photo: WHO)

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970, and the disease has spread to several other countries, mainly in central and western Africa.

Monkeypox virus can be transmitted from animals to humans when infected animals, such as rodents or primates, bite or scratch a person. Humans can also become infected by hunting wild animals or processing wild game meat to eat, the CDC says.

The virus can also be spread from person to person through respiratory droplets in the air, but they cannot travel more than 30 centimeters, so two people in close contact for a long time can become infected. .

The most common symptoms are fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches.

Very few cases of monkeypox have been identified in humans in the United States. The disease does not occur naturally in the United States, according to the US CDC, and infections are usually found in people who have recently traveled to countries where monkeypox is endemic.

In 2003, 47 cases of monkeypox were confirmed in six US states and were the first reported cases outside of Africa.

All cases were contracted after contact with prairie dogs, which became infected “after being kept near small mammals imported from Ghana”, the US CDC states. .

Since then, only two other cases have been detected in the US, and both are travel-related.

In July 2021, a case was confirmed in the state of Texas, this person returned from Nigeria. And in November 2021, another patient in the state of Maryland who also went to Nigeria was found to have the disease.

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