Rare Monkeypox Case Confirmed in Massachusetts

Massachusetts health authorities confirmed a case of monkeypox Wednesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was monitoring the possible spread of the rare but potentially serious viral illness.

A man who recently traveled to Canada was tested for the virus Tuesday, and the infection was confirmed by the CDC on Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in a statement. The news comes the same day British and Portuguese health authorities reported new cases, heightening concerns that monkeypox is spreading undetected outside of central and West Africa, where it is typically found.

The CDC is monitoring six Americans for potential monkeypox infection after they shared a flight with a British patient who tested positive for the virus, senior CDC official Jennifer McQuiston told STAT on Tuesday.

U.S. officials said clinicians should consider a diagnosis of monkeypox in people with an otherwise unexplained rash who also traveled to a country that had a confirmed case.

Experts are trying to determine how the virus is spreading and how the unusually large number of cases may be connected.

Two newly confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, one in London and one in southeast England, have no travel links to a country where monkeypox is endemic, indicating possible community transmission, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency.

British health authorities said Wednesday that nine infections have been confirmed in England since May 6.

The agency is advising people in those groups to be especially “alert to any unusual rashes or lesions on any part of their body.”

Portuguese health officials also announced confirmed cases of monkeypox Wednesday. Portugal’s Directorate-General of Health said more than 20 “suspected cases” were identified this month.

Monkeypox causes a milder infection than smallpox. The viral illness most often begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes. Eventually, “pox,” fluid-filled blisters, spread across a person’s body.

(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Meryl Kornfield 

{Matzav.com}