CDC Scrambles After Rare Case Of Monkeypox Turns Up In Texas
CDC health officials are now working vigorously to trace contacts of anyone directly exposed to a Dallas resident who recently returned to the US on a trip to Nigeria. The man is now in isolation at a Dallas hospital after testing positive for an extremely rare disease known as Monkeypox - said to be the first ever case of its kind in Texas.
It’s also the first case seen inside the United States in two decades, with the last significant outbreak in 2003 including 47 reported human cases. The infected person flew into Atlanta international airport on July 8, and then on to Dallas Love Field the next day.
Dallas health officials have declared there’s “no cause for alarm” given monkeypox has a lower fatality rate than smallpox. The two diseases are similar in that they can cause a severe rash which lasts for about a month. But the rash causing large swollen bumps all over the body appear particularly nasty and painful-looking in the case of Monkeypox.
However monkeypox may not be as easily spreadable given it’s carried by rodents or other animals and human-to-human transmission is through bodily fluids and respiratory droplets.
Given the rarity of the disease, there’s as yet no treatment despite past attempts to develop a vaccine. CDC officials have expressed that an outbreak is unlikely given current mask mandates and other distancing measures aboard domestic airlines due to the coronavirus pandemic - likely meaning the infected Dallas resident was unlikely to have spread it during the two flights inbound to the US, or at least that’s the hoped-for optimistic scenario.
...how long until this disease is called racist?
If it’s not one thing, it’s monkeypox.
A pox on all poxes.
Thanks for the ping.
Sounds odd.
What’s next?