ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland resident tested positive for Monkeypox after traveling to Nigeria, according to the Maryland Health Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Health officials said the person recently traveled to Nigeria and just came back to the state. The person, who remains unidentified, is isolated at home with mild symptoms and has not been hospitalized.
Now, health officials are following up with people who may have had contact with this person. No special precautions are needed for the general public, health officials said.
It remains unclear where the person lives in the state of Maryland, officials said.
Monkeypox symptoms start with a fever, headache and muscle aches. The virus can also lead to a rash that spreads over the body.
Infections have only been documented six times outside of Africa. The last outbreak in the United States was in 2003 where 47 cases were linked to a shipment of animals from Ghana. In this case, the virus was treated with the smallpox vaccine and no one died.
Since then, the CDC logged just one other case in the U.S. That was a recent case that happened this summer with a U.S. citizen who also traveled to Nigeria.