Monkeypox in Texas: Man ignored doctors’ orders, flew home to Dallas after diagnosis
DALLAS - Public health officials in Mexico say a Dallas man infected with monkeypox ignored doctors’ advice to isolate himself and instead boarded a plane for Texas.
Mexican authorities said the 48-year-old man started showing symptoms, including the tell-tale rash, on May 30 while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta.
He went to the hospital there then left after refusing to give doctors samples. He ignored doctors’ orders to isolate and flew back to Dallas-Fort Worth the next day.
His doctor in Dallas reported the case to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RELATED: Dallas County health officials report first case of monkeypox in North Texas for 2022
Digitally-colorized electron microscopic (EM) image depicting a monkeypox virion (virus particle), obtained from a clinical sample associated with a 2003 prairie dog outbreak, published June 6, 2022. The image depicts a thin section image from a huma
The strain of monkeypox is now responsible for more than 1,000 cases worldwide.
The World Health Organization said most of those have been linked to sexual contact between men, but they are also seeing some cases of community spread.
"The risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic countries is real. WHO is particularly concerned about the risks of this virus for vulnerable groups including children and pregnant women," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general.
READ MORE: What is Monkeypox? What are Monkeypox symptoms? Answers about a rare disease
Mexican authorities also said the man traveled to Germany just days before his vacation in Mexico.
Experts believe the current monkeypox outbreak originated in Europe, though it’s not clear where the Dallas man became infected.
The Dallas County patient is the only person in Texas known to be infected by monkeypox this year.