A rare case of monkeypox has been recorded in the United States, the first confirmed case of the year, in a Massachusetts man who just traveled to Canada. Despite the fact that this is the first verified case of monkeypox in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is bracing for further cases.
Here are ten things you should know about monkeypox and the first incidence in the US in 2022.
- The Massachusetts resident visited friends in Canada around the end of April and returned in early May. He travelled in a private vehicle.
- This is the first monkeypox case of the year. Texas and Maryland have reported cases of the disease in persons who travelled to Nigeria last year.
- Monkeypox instances have been recorded in the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spain recently. It’s still unclear if the US case is linked to the European pandemic.
- The Massachusetts man’s contact information is being tracked, but the CDC has not divulged where he went in Canada.
- Monkeypox is thought to be lethal in one out of every ten cases, with severe sickness and mortality being more frequent in children.
- Monkeypox is characterized by a flu-like sickness and lymph node enlargement, followed by a rash on the face and body.
- Monkeypox cases are common in Africa, where humans have been infected by rodent or small animal bites, and it is not easily disseminated among people.
- Most of the cases have been reported in homosexual or bisexual males in Europe, and officials are looking into the likelihood that some illnesses were transferred through intimate sex contact.
- Monkeypox belongs to the same viral family as smallpox.
- Smallpox vaccination is effective against monkeypox. Vaccination is also feasible after exposure to the monkeypox virus, but it must be done within four days of infection.
