Patient may have infected U.S. nurse with monkeypox

Health officials in Wisconsin are reporting what could be the first case of U.S. transmission of monkeypox from one person to another.

A state epidemiologist said Thursday that a health-care worker may have got the disease from a patient.

It has not been confirmed yet, but the health-care worker was isolated after showing symptoms. Experts are testing tissue samples.

The disease is usually spread to people from animals, but in rare cases it can be passed on from one person to another.

An outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1996 to 1997 spread that way.

Smallpox vaccine recommended

Thursday's announcement comes a day after the U.S. government recommended the smallpox vaccine for anyone exposed to monkeypox.

Monkeypox is a viral disease related to smallpox but less infectious and rarely fatal to humans.

The symptoms are similar to smallpox, including fever and a rash of pus-filled blisters. Patients may also suffer from diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes and sore throat.

As of Wednesday, U.S. health officials had confirmed nine human cases of the disease, all in the Midwest. Another 54 possible cases had also been reported.

The disease is believed to have spread to people from prairie dogs that were likely infected after coming in contact with an infected Gambian rat at a Chicago-area pet distributor. The rat is indigenous to Africa.