A case of monkeypox under investigation in Dallas is the first in Texas amid a global outbreak of the virus typically found in central and western Africa.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) said a Texan who had travelled to Mexico “in the past month” had tested positive for monkeypox on Monday, 6 June.
The result was confirmed at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, and is now included in the overall tally of 35 US monkeypox cases.
The District of Columbia and 14 US states have all confirmed cases of the viral disease, which usually appears as a rash or a scab – among other signs.
Monkeypox is spread mainly through respiratory droplets, although it can also be caught by coming into contact with an infected material, the CDC says.
Face-to-face contact between people, as well as being bitten by an infected animal – as typically occurs in the parts of central Africa where a human case of Monkeypox was first discovered in 1970 – are other means of transmission.
The 2022 outbreak which began in May has seen more than 1,000 cases in 29 countries around the world, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.
During the global outbreak, 66 deaths have occurred across Africa as a result of 1,400 suspected cases of Monkeypox, the health body said.
No further details were provided about the Dallas individual because of the right to privacy, the DCHHS said. Texas authorities are working with an airline and state and local officials to contact those who may have been in contact with the case.
“We have been working closely with the CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services and have conducted interviews with the patient and close contacts,” said DCHHS director Dr Philip Huang in the press release.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
