US doctors investigate more than 50 possible cases of monkeypox

Laboratory tests have confirmed an outbreak of monkeypox in the United States. By 16 June nine cases had been confirmed and more than 80 were under investigation. Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that is allied to smallpox but is less lethal and that occurs mostly in central and western Africa. It is called monkeypox because it was first found in 1958 in laboratory monkeys. Early in June at least 20 cases from three midwestern states were reported to the federal Centers …