U.S. case of monkeypox reported in Massachusetts man

NEW YORK — Massachusetts on Wednesday reported a rare case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada, and health officials are looking into whether it is connected to small outbreaks in Europe.

Monkeypox is typically limited to Africa, and rare cases in the United States and elsewhere are usually linked to travel there. A small number of confirmed or suspected cases have been reported this month in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain.

U.S. health officials said they are in contact with officials in the U.K. and Canada as part of the investigation. The U.S. case poses no risk to the public, and the Massachusetts resident is hospitalized but in good condition, officials said.

The case is the first in the U.S. this year. Last year, Texas and Maryland each reported a case in people who traveled to Nigeria.

Monkeypox typically begins with a flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes, followed by a rash on the face and body. In Africa, people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, and it does not usually spread easily among people.

However, investigators in Europe say most of the cases have been in gay or bisexual men, and officials are looking into the possibility that some infections were spread through close contact during sex.

Monkeypox comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox. Most people recover from monkeypox within weeks, but the disease is fatal for up to 1 in 10 people, according to the World Health Organization.

In Portugal, health authorities confirmed five cases of monkeypox in young men, and Britain announced another two, marking an unusual outbreak in Europe of a disease typically limited to Africa.

Portugal’s General Directorate for Health said they were also investigating 15 suspected cases and that all were identified this month in the area around the capital, Lisbon.

All the Portuguese cases involve men, most of them young, authorities said. They have skin lesions and were reported to be in stable condition. Authorities did not say if the men had a history of travel to Africa or any links with recent cases in Britain or elsewhere.

British health authorities said Wednesday they had identified two new cases of monkeypox, one in London and another in southeast England. They said neither case had previously traveled to Africa and that it was possible they were infected in the U.K. The cases had no known links to other previously confirmed patients, suggesting there may be multiple chains of monkeypox transmission already happening in the country.

Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of Britain’s Health Security Agency said the latest cases, alongside the other infections reported in Europe, “confirms our initial concerns that there could be spread of monkeypox within our communities.”