The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new warning to health care providers Thursday about severe illnesses in people with monkeypox. The alert comes as Ohio reported that an individual with monkeypox has died – the third known death of a patient with monkeypox in the United States.
Ohio listed the death in an update to its online monkeypox outbreak dashboard Thursday. The Ohio Department of Health on Friday said an adult male with monkeypox had died, and the individual had “other health conditions.” The CDC told CNN it is aware of the death. The first US death due to monkeypox was confirmed this month in Los Angeles County. The county public health department and the CDC said the person had a severely weakened immune system and had been hospitalized. No further information will be made public, the department said.
A person in Harris County, Texas, who had monkeypox died in August, but the virus’ role in that death has not been confirmed. Deaths from monkeypox are extremely rare, and babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk. Among more than 67,000 cases reported globally in the current outbreak, there have been 27 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.