A rare case of monkeypox has been confirmed in a Texas resident who recently traveled from Nigeria, health officials said Friday.
The person has been hospitalized and isolated in Dallas, and is in stable condition, according to officials with the Dallas County Health and Human Services and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The traveler arrived at Dallas Love Field on July 9 from Atlanta after a flight from Nigeria a day prior.
The case is the first ever confirmed instance of monkeypox in the Lone Star State, according to local officials.
The CDC said it was working with the airline and state and local health officials to reach anyone who may have been in contact with the patient.
The risk that the traveler spread the bug to others on the flights and in the airport is low, in large part due to masking protocols practiced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the federal agency.
Monkeypox is a disease in the smallpox family, but is milder than it. The rare bug can be transmitted through respiratory droplets, body fluids as well as contact with an infected animal or animal products. Most infections last two to four weeks.
The first case of monkeypox in a human was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the US experienced a series of infections in the 1970s.
The Texas case comes after two cases of the disease were confirmed in June in the UK, where the virus was brought in May by a man who worked in Nigeria.
In September 2018, the viral infection was diagnosed in three people in Northern England, all of whom had also traveled to the African country.
