Texas Reports 1st US Death of Person With Monkeypox

'Severely immunocompromised' adult living in Harris County identified as the patient

People wait in line to receive the monkeypox vaccine before the opening of a new mass vaccination site at the Bushwick Education Campus in Brooklyn, New York, on July 17, 2022. Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

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.