Monkeypox Patient Passes Through Atlanta Airport: CDC

ATLANTA — An airline passenger infected with a case of human monkeypox is being treated in Dallas after switching flights in Atlanta, federal health officials said.

A U.S. resident returning from Nigeria last week passed through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport en route to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had contracted the rare disease before he embarked upon his trans-Atlantic flight, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC did not indicate what airline the passenger flew, but said the flight departed Nigeria on July 8, arriving in Atlanta on July 9. The passenger then left Atlanta for Dallas on July 9. The CDC is working with that airline as well as local and state officials in Georgia and Texas to contact other passengers who might have been on that flight.

“Travelers on these flights were required to wear masks as well as in the U.S. airports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” a CDC statement said. “Therefore, it’s believed the risk of spread of monkeypox via respiratory droplets to others on the planes and in the airports is low. Working with airline and state and local health partners, CDC is assessing potential risks to those who may have had close contact with the traveler on the plane and specific settings.”

Although Human monkeypox is rare, the potentially serious viral illness initially presents swollen lymph nodes and flu-like symptoms before progressing to widespread facial and bodily rashes, according to the CDC. In the same family as smallpox, monkeypox causes a milder infection. It can last between two and four weeks, and this strain has a 1-percent fatality rate, the CDC says.

The patient is being treated in a Dallas hospital.