Yesterday (May 18), the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that a man in Massachusetts was the first person in the United States to test positive for monkeypox. He had recently traveled to Canada, where he presumably contracted the virus, the Massachusetts Department of Health says in a statement. The case adds to the spate of infections detected at least five European countries and Canada, regions which are outside the disease’s typical stomping grounds.
The outbreak is “rare and unusual,” UK Health and Safety Authority Chief Medical Advisor Susan Hopkins says in a statement released on Monday after two additional UK denizens tested positive for the disease, adding that “exactly where and how they acquired their infections remains under urgent investigation.”
Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a relative of the smallpox virus (both are Orthopoxviruses and cause similar symptoms). The infection is characterized ...
