Massachusetts man catches monkeypox after traveling to Canada

A case of monkeypox has been confirmed in the U.S. for the first time this year.

A Massachusetts man who recently traveled to Canada was diagnosed with the disease Tuesday night, the Massachusetts health department said Wednesday in a statement.

Health officials said the unidentified man had been hospitalized, but there was no risk to the general public.

Monkeypox is seen under an electron microscope in a 2003 image from the Centers of Disease Control.

Canada has not confirmed any monkeypox infections, but officials in Quebec launched an investigation Wednesday, the CBC reported. Health leaders in Montreal have already found 13 suspected cases.

Elsewhere, British health authorities have confirmed nine cases of monkeypox in the U.K. since May 7. Portugal is also investigating more than a dozen suspected cases.

While monkeypox is similar to smallpox, it is less deadly. Only about 1 in 100 people infected with monkeypox die, according to the CDC. In 2003, an outbreak in the U.S. infected 47 people, but no one died.

Last year, single cases were detected in Texas and Maryland, months apart. In both cases, the person infected with monkeypox had recently traveled to Nigeria. Monkeypox is most common in West Africa.

While it’s called monkeypox, the exact animal that carries the infection is not confirmed. Monkeypox got its name because it was discovered in lab monkeys in the 1950s.

Scientists believe monkeys often spread monkeypox to smaller animals, who carry the virus to people. The first case detected in humans was in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.