More than 200 contacts followed in the United States for a rare disease

More than 200 people in 27 U.S. states are being followed for possible rare monkey pox infections, health officials say.

They fear people may have come into contact with a man from Texas who imported the disease from Nigeria earlier this month.

The man – believed to be the first case of monkey pox in the United States since 2003 – has been taken to hospital but is in stable condition.

So far, no new cases have been found.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say they fear passengers who were on two man-made flights may have been exposed to the disease.

He flew to Atlanta, Georgia from Lagos, Nigeria on July 9 before catching a flight to Dallas, where he was hospitalized, the CDC said.

He said he was working with airlines to assess “the potential risks to those who may have had close contact with the traveler.”

But the risks of the disease spreading on the plane were low as passengers were required to wear face masks, he added.

A CDC spokesperson told the BBC it was “working with state and local health departments to follow up with people who may have been exposed to monkey pox.”

“The risk to the general public is considered low,” the spokesperson said, adding that none of the 200 people they were monitoring were considered “high risk”.

Monkey pox is a rare viral disease in the same family as smallpox, but much less severe.

It occurs mainly in remote areas of Central and West African countries, near tropical rainforests.

Symptoms include:

• Initially fever, headache, swelling, back pain, muscle pain and general listlessness.

• Once the fever subsides, a rash may develop, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body, most often the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.

• The rash, which can be extremely itchy, changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off. Lesions can cause scarring.

Most cases of the virus are mild, sometimes resembling chickenpox, and go away on their own within a few weeks.

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However, monkey pox can sometimes be more serious, with one in 100 cases fatal, according to the CDC.

Although rare, the disease has already been discovered in the United States. A 2003 outbreak caused 47 confirmed or probable cases and was linked to rats flown in the country.

Last month, three cases were identified in the UK.

Click here to see the interactive BBC