Health officials investigating monkeypox in Maryland

Public health officials are investigating a case of imported monkeypox in Maryland from a traveler who returned to the U.S. from Nigeria.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it confirmed that the patient had monkeypox and that the infection matches the strain that has been cropping up in Nigeria since 2017.

The infected person is in isolation in Maryland. The CDC said it is working with international agencies, the airline and state and local health officials in the D.C. region to contact travelers and others who might have been exposed to the patient.

Travelers on the flight arriving in the U.S. had to wear masks on the plane and in airports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials, therefore, believe the risk of the spread of the monkeypox virus through respiratory droplets on the planes is low.

However, the CDC is evaluating possible risks to those who might have had close contact with the traveler on the plane and after their arrival in the U.S.

The CDC is asking health care providers to be on the lookout for poxvirus-like lesions, especially among travelers returning from Nigeria, and to report suspected cases immediately to local health authorities.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness. It starts with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes before progressing to a widespread rash on the face and body.

After more than four decades with no reported cases, the virus reemerged in Nigeria in 2017. Since then, 218 cases have been confirmed in Nigeria, and eight have been reported in international travelers from the West African country, including an imported case in Texas in July and this Maryland case, the CDC says.

Monkeypox infections among humans have been documented only six times outside of Africa; 47 cases in the U.S. in 2003, three cases in the U.K. in 2018, one case in Israel in 2018, one case in Singapore in 2019, three cases in the U.K. and now two cases in the U.S. this year, according to the CDC.

The natural reservoir of monkeypox is unknown, but it is suspected that African rodent species have contributed to the disease’s spread.

Monkeypox can spread when a person comes into contact with an animal, human or materials infected with the virus. The virus can enter the body through broken skin, respiratory tract, eyes, nose or mouth.

Spread from animals to humans can occur from a bite or scratch, bush meat preparation, direct contact with body fluids and direct or indirect contact with lesion material such as contaminated bedding.

The virus was first discovered in 1958 following two outbreaks of a pox-like disease that spread in colonies of research monkeys.

The first recorded human case of monkeypox occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, when escalated efforts to eradicate smallpox were underway, the CDC says. Monkeypox has since been reported in people in other central and western African countries.