Although the risk of infecting other travelers to Nigeria is low, the patient traveled recently from Nigeria to the U.S. CDC stated
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Texas and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced Friday that a U.S. resident was admitted in Dallas with a confirmed case.
A patient traveled from Nigeria to the United States recently. Lab testing at the CDC showed that the patient had contracted an infection typically found in West Africa. The agency stated that federal, state, and local health officials are working together with the airline to reach flight passengers who may have come in contact with the patient. Two flights will fly from Lagos, Nigeria to Atlanta, arriving on July 9, and Atlanta to Dallas on the 9th.
The CDC stated that travelers on these flights had to wear masks, as they do in U.S. airports because of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. “The risk of spreading monkeypox via the respiratory droplets to other passengers on the planes or in airports is therefore low,” the CDC stated.
Monkeypox, a rare and potentially fatal viral disease, usually begins with flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes. It then progresses to a rash that covers the body and face. The CDC stated that Monkeypox belongs to the same virus family as smallpox but causes a milder form of the disease.
Most infections last for between 2 and 4 weeks. The specific strain of infection in the patient’s case results in a death rate of approximately 1 in 100. However, fragile patients or those with weaker immune systems may experience higher deaths rates.
Officials have cited at most six cases of monkeypox among travelers from Nigeria, as well as in the U.K. Israel, and Singapore. This case is not thought to be connected to any previous cases. Infected people were also reported to have caused several more infections in the United Kingdom.
