Authorities in Texas on Tuesday confirmed the first death of a person who contracted monkeypox in the United States, coming after more than 18,000 people have contracted the virus in recent months.
The individual who died was “severely immunocompromised,” said the Texas Department of State Health Services in a statement. It’s not clear if the person died from monkeypox, but the agency is investigating the role that the virus played in the person’s death.
The identity, age, and sex of the individual—who was an adult resident in Harris County—were not disclosed. Federal health officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) say that monkeypox is overwhelmingly spreading among homosexual males….