‘NO RISK TO THE PUBLIC’

Massachusetts Officials Confirm First U.S. Monkeypox Case This Year

Cases have been spreading elsewhere, with the U.K. recording nine since the beginning of May.

A man in Massachusetts has tested positive for monkeypox, the first recorded case of the virus in the U.S. this year. In a press release, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said that the patient, who recently traveled to Canada, is hospitalized and in good condition. The DHP described monkeypox as a “rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a rash on the face and body.” Monkeypox can be transmitted from animals to humans through bites or scratches, or from human-to-human via large respiratory air droplets. The droplets cannot travel more than a few feet, meaning that infection requires sustained close contact between two individuals. According to the DHP release, “the case poses no risk to the public” and the disease “does not spread easily between people.”