On July 16, the Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) confirmed the first ever case of human monkeypox in the state of Texas.
Reportedly, the rare disease has appeared in the United States for the first time since the 2003 outbreak, where 47 cases were recorded from six states.
On July 9, the patient, a Texas resident, had arrived at Love Field Airport from Atlanta after an overnight flight from Nigeria. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with airline, state and local health officials is working on contacting the airline passengers and other individuals who may have come in contact with the infected person. The patient is currently hospitalized in isolation in Dallas and is in a stable condition.
The Director of DCHHS, Philip Huang stated, “We have been working closely with CDC and DSHS and have conducted interviews with the patient and close contacts that were exposed.” He continued saying that they were “determined” that the risk towards general public is very low.
According to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, “This case is not a reason for alarm and we do not expect any threat to the general public.” People without symptoms do not have the capacity to spread the virus.
In 1970, when smallpox was nearly eradicated after enhanced efforts, the first human case of the virus was identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a nine-year-old boy.
