What is monkeypox? What are the symptoms? Here’s what to know about the rare disease

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed a human case of monkeypox in a Dallas resident who recently traveled back from Nigeria to the United States. It’s the first known case of the rare disease in Texas, officials said.

So what is monkeypox? Here are answers to some common questions.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness, which is in the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes a milder infection, according to a CDC news release. In the Dallas case, CDC laboratory testing showed the patient is infected with a strain most commonly seen in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.

What are the symptoms?

Monkeypox typically begins with flu-like illness, including fever and swelling of the lymph nodes, and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body, the CDC says. Most infections last two to four weeks.

Is it fatal?

Infections with this strain of monkeypox are fatal in about 1 in 100 people, the CDC said. Rates can be higher in people who have weakened immune systems.

What causes monkeypox in humans?

It’s thought that African rodents and small mammals play a part in spreading the virus to people and forest animals like monkeys, according to the CDC release. People can get monkeypox if they are bitten or scratched by an animal, prepare wild game, or have contact with an infected animal or possibly animal products.

Monkeypox can also spread between people through respiratory droplets, or through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or items such as clothing or bedding that have been contaminated with fluids or sores, the CDC said.

Experts says it’s not easily transmitted from one person to another. Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets, which generally can’t travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required.

How can it be prevented? What’s the risk?

Health authorities believe the risk to the public is very low, but encouraged people to follow basic infection prevention measures, such as washing hands regularly and staying home when sick.

People who do not have symptoms are not capable of spreading the virus to others, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.

Is there a cure?

There is no proven, safe treatment for a monkeypox infection, according to the CDC. Smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) can be used to control an outbreak.

How common is monkeypox?

The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the CDC. Most outbreaks have occurred in Africa. In addition to Nigeria, outbreaks have been reported in nine other countries in central and western Africa since 1970. A large outbreak of monkeypox — 47 cases — was reported in people in the United States in 2003 after the virus spread from imported African rodents to pet prairie dogs.