How Kansas, Missouri and prairie dogs were involved in first US outbreak of monkeypox

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — State health officials in Missouri on Saturday identified the first local case of monkeypox, a viral infection that has now been reported in nearly 20 states, the largest outbreak in U.S. history. But monkeypox has been here before, including the Kansas City metro. The first outbreak in the United States, in 2003, affected six Midwestern states, including Kansas and Missouri, when people became sick after coming in contact with pet prairie dogs that had been infected by animals imported from Africa. The current outbreak is also linked to Africa, where monkeypox is endemic in…

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