Monkeypox case confirmed in Texas man who traveled from Nigeria, CDC says

Rodney Overton, WNCN

Updated: Jul 17, 2021 / 06:26 AM CDT

Dr. Danny G. Mead, an assistant research scientist in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, works with vials containing mosquitoes, which were caught last week in Albany, Ga., in the Wildlife Health building on the university campus in Athens, Ga. on Wednesday, April 7, 2004. About 75 percent of all new diseases, including those from major outbreaks such as SARS, bird flu and monkeypox, have come from animals. As a result, veterinarians and other animal disease researchers increasingly are needed to help in the fight against emerging infectious diseases. (AP Photo/Allen Sullivan)

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ATLANTA (WNCN) — Texas and federal officials have confirmed a case of “human monkeypox” in a U.S. resident who recently traveled from Nigeria to the United States, the CDC said in a news release Friday.

The case was confirmed Thursday and the infected person is in a hospital in Dallas, the news release said.

“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,” the news release said.

Federal officials, along with the airline, are trying to contact passengers who were on two flights with the infected person – from Lagos to Atlanta on July 8, with arrival on July 9, and from Atlanta to Dallas on July 9, the news release said.

“Travelers on these flights were required to wear masks as well as in the U.S. airports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it’s believed the risk of spread of monkeypox via respiratory droplets to others on the planes and in the airports is low,” the news release said.

Monkeypox, an infection which lasts two to four weeks, is in the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes a milder infection, the CDC’s news release said.

In this case, laboratory testing at CDC showed the patient is infected with a strain of monkeypox most commonly seen in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.