First monkeypox case found in U.S. this year adds to infections seen in U.K., Spain

The U.S. identified its first case this year of monkeypox virus, adding to a growing number of confirmed and suspected infections in the U.K., Portugal and Spain.

The Massachusetts Health Department reported on Wednesday the case of an adult male who had recently traveled to Canada, where more than a dozen monkeypox infections have been identified. The man traveled via private transportation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said it’s working with Massachusetts health officials on monitoring the situation.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that usually begins with flu-like symptoms before progressing to a rash, which could be confused with sexually transmitted infections. Infections usually last from two to four weeks, according to the CDC.

Most of the cases have been in men who have sex with men, but anyone can contract monkeypox virus, the agency said. The CDC is urging health-care providers to be on the lookout for signs of possible monkeypox infections, such as rashes, in all patients.

“Many of these global reports of monkeypox cases are occurring within sexual networks,” Inger Damon, a poxvirus expert and director of the CDC’s Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, said in a statement. “However, health-care providers should be alert to any rash that has features typical of monkeypox.”

The U.S. has antiviral therapies and vaccines available for use against smallpox, a virus that’s closely related to monkeypox. On Thursday, Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic said that the U.S. government will exercise a $119 million contract option for a freeze-dried version of its smallpox and monkeypox vaccine called Jynneos. The vaccine is one of three cleared by the

Food and Drug Administration for smallpox.

Monkeypox doesn’t spread easily between people, according to health officials, but it can be transmitted through respiratory droplets, bodily fluids or contact with infected skin lesions.

Children are also at a higher risk of contracting the virus, according to the World Health Organization, and infection during pregnancy can lead to birth complications or congenital monkeypox. Common household disinfectants can kill the virus on surfaces, the CDC said.