2003 United States outbreak of monkeypox

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (U.S.). Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
• Description:
  In 2003, the U.S. experienced an outbreak of monkeypox. This was the first time human monkeypox was reported outside of Africa.
  
  How was monkeypox first diagnosed in the United States?
  
  The clinical features of the illness in U.S. patients—fever, headache, muscle aches, and rash— were consistent with those of monkeypox. Initially, scientists at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisconsin, recovered a virus resembling a poxvirus from one of the first patients and the patient’s pet prairie dog. Laboratory tests at CDC—including several PCR-based assays looking for poxvirus DNA, electron microscopy, and gene sequencing—confirmed that the agent causing the illnesses was monkeypox virus.
  
  Which states were affected by the outbreak?
  
  Forty-seven confirmed and probable cases of monkeypox were reported from six states—Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin – during the 2003 U.S. outbreak.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Disease Outbreaks Mpox (monkeypox)
• Document Type:
  Webpage
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Collection(s):
  Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f64e2307507dc7dbd9b92fb36259fec7152077002629150d7739ce64cdff1363
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/108095/cdc_108095_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 153.50 KB ]