The first case of monkeypox was confirmed July 15 in a United States resident who traveled into the country from Nigeria. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed that the Texas man had traveled from Lagos, Nigeria to Atlanta and then to Dallas.
Although the probability of other passengers contracting the virus is considerably low as all passengers wore facemasks throughout the journey, the CDC is monitoring over 200 people the man had contact with and asking them to quarantine for about three weeks.
Monkeypox is a disease caused by transmission from animals ( such as monkeys, apes, rodents ) to humans. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The last time the U.S. experienced a case of monkeypox was in 2003, with an outbreak consisting 47 cases. While the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to smallpox and chickenpox- with the exception of swollen lymph nodes, fever, headaches, and malaise are considerably elevated in monkeypox patients.
Laboratory testing at the CDC shows that the strain of monkeypox the patient in this case has is seen in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.
According to the CDC, the strain of the virus that infected the Texas man has a fatality rate of about 10%. However, this is a situation to be looked into closely for Nigeria most especially.
