CDC issues monkeypox recommendations for clinicians

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Saturday recommended clinicians consider monkeypox in patients with symptoms who traveled from Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria on July 8 to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on July 9; from Atlanta to Dallas Love Field Airport on July 9; or were in those airports on July 8-9. Health care providers should isolate patients with suspected monkeypox in a negative pressure room, maintain proper isolation precautions to prevent infection, and consult their state health department or the CDC’s monkeypox call center, CDC said.

CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services last week confirmed human monkeypox in a U.S. resident who traveled through those airports from Nigeria to the U.S. July 8 and 9. A rare but potentially serious viral illness, monkeypox typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body. It caused a large U.S. outbreak in 2003 after the virus spread from imported African rodents to pet prairie dogs.