The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert Friday urging doctors and state health departments to be vigilant for cases of monkeypox as an unprecedented global spread of the virus raises alarm among public health authorities.
The alert comes two days after the agency confirmed a monkeypox case in Massachusetts, where a patient with skin lesions associated with the rare virus was treated. New York City officials said Thursday they are investigating a potential case. Federal officials say they expect to identify additional infections in the coming days.
Authorities have confirmed more than 70 cases of monkeypox across Europe as of Friday. Other infections were identified in Canada, where the Massachusetts patient had recently traveled, and Australia.
What is monkeypox, the rare virus now confirmed in the U.S. and Europe?
The World Health Organization held an emergency meeting Friday to look into the spread of the virus beyond western and central Africa, where it is typically seen. A team of academics tracking cases, working with data initiative Global.Health, showed the majority of confirmed infections had been reported in Spain, followed by England and Portugal.
Globally, there were more than 50 suspected cases that had not yet been confirmed.
Experts say the latest cases are unusual because of the level of spread among patients with no known travel history to Africa.
Monkeypox was first reported in the United States in 2003 in an outbreak linked to prairie dogs infected by rodents from Ghana. Two cases were detected in the United States last year in patients who recently traveled to Nigeria.
“We are seeing the virus emerging in new ways we have not seen it emerge before,” said Brett Petersen, deputy chief of the CDC’s pox virus and rabies branch. “That is where a lot of the concern comes from.”
Petersen said the agency issued the alert so public health officials could get a better handle on the scope and potential trajectory of the outbreak “so we are prepared to handle what may be coming.”
But the risk to the public remains low, health officials said. Monkeypox is easier to contain than the coronavirus because it is harder to transmit, and current cases have been identified as the West African strain associated with milder illness that lasts two to four weeks.
Symptoms usually start with fever, aches and exhaustion, followed days later by a rash characterized by pus-filled bumps and lesions. In Africa, the fatality rate of the West African strain has been 1 percent, although experts say that may be lower in countries with better access to health care.
Health officials say Americans should be vigilant about seeking medical care if they develop rashes and avoiding prolonged contact with those who have them.