A Massachusetts man has been diagnosed with monkeypox after traveling to Canada, the Centers for Disease Control and Massachusetts Department of Public Health have confirmed on Wednesday.
While the agencies are working with the man’s healthcare providers and local health boards to identify anyone who had contact with him, they insist his case poses no risk to the public, and he is reportedly hospitalized and in good condition.
The case is the first to surface in the US this year and comes on the heels of an alert by Spanish authorities of a potential outbreak of the virus among 23 people in Madrid. While typically spread by respiratory transmission, a spokesperson for Madrid’s regional health department suggested the local outbreak was driven by “fluid contact,” noting that eight of the suspected cases were found in gay men.
Some 20 suspected cases of monkeypox also surfaced among Portuguese young men in and around Lisbon this week, and a number of similar cases have been confirmed in the UK. Of the seven UK cases confirmed as of Monday, four of the most recent were in gay or bisexual men, and the first involved a person who had recently been to Nigeria, where the infection was likely contracted.