First Monkeypox Case In U.S. For 2022 Detected

Monkeypox virus detection in Indonesia

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The first case of monkeypox in the U.S. for 2022 was reported in Massachusetts on Wednesday (May 18) in an adult male who recently traveled to Canada, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed in a news release.

"Initial testing was completed late Tuesday at the State Public Health Laboratory in Jamaica Plain and confirmatory testing was completed today at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," the department wrote. "DPH is working closely with the CDC, relevant local boards of health, and the patient’s health care providers to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient while he was infectious.

"This contact tracing approach is the most appropriate given the nature and transmission of the virus."

Monkeypox is a rare viral illness that commonly brings flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes and is capable of progressing to facial and body rash, with infections usually lasting between 2-to-4 weeks.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said the single case does not pose a risk to the general public and confirmed that the individual was hospitalized in good condition.

Monkeypox was last reported in the U.S. in 2021 among people in Texas and Maryland who had returned from a recent trip to Nigeria.

Since May 2022, nine cases of monkeypox have been identified in the United Kingdom, with the initial case having returned from a visit to Nigeria, while the other eight cases hadn't reported recent travel after testing positive.


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