Texas reports first U.S. death in person with monkeypox
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[August 31, 2022]
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Texas on Tuesday
reported the first death in a severely immunocompromised person who was
diagnosed with monkeypox, according to state health department
officials.
The case is still under investigation to see what role monkeypox played
in the death. Although painful, monkeypox is rarely fatal.
Scott Pauley, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, said in an email the agency is aware of the reported death
in an adult in Harris County, Texas.
"CDC continues to closely monitor the monkeypox outbreak and we are
actively working with Texas officials to investigate this situation," he
said.
"Until the investigation is complete, it is premature to assign a
specific cause of death."
More than 90 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported more
than 478,600 cases of the viral disease, which the World Health
Organization has declared a global health emergency. Deaths outside of
Africa, where the virus is endemic, are rare. Non-endemic countries
reporting monkeypox deaths include in Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, India and
Spain, according to a Reuters tally.
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![](../images/083122PIX/health19.jpg)
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus
positive" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022.
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png) Cases caused by the form of the
virus now circulating in the United States - Clade IIb - are rarely
fatal, although people with weakened immune systems may be more
likely to get seriously ill or die, Pauley said.
Anyone can become infected with monkeypox, which spreads through
close contact with an infected person. However, nearly all of the
more than 18,101 monkeypox cases in the United States have occurred
among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, according
to the CDC.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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