The United States has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, a move that is expected to free up additional funds and tools to fight the disease.
Key points:
- The U.S. smallpox toll topped 6,600 on Wednesday, almost all cases among men who have sex with men
- The statement will improve the availability of data on monkeypox infections that are needed for the response
- The disease began to spread in Europe before moving to the United States, which now has the most cases in the world
The U.S. count topped 6,600 cases Wednesday, almost all of them among men who have sex with men.
“We are ready to take our response to the next level to address this virus and urge all Americans to take monkeypox seriously,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a briefing .
The statement will improve the availability of data on monkeypox infections needed for the response, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky.
The US government has come under pressure for its handling of the outbreak.
The disease began to spread in Europe before moving to the United States, which now has the most cases in the world.
Vaccines and treatments have been in short supply, and the disease is often left to historically underfunded sexual health clinics to manage them.
A colored transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles found inside an infected cell, grown in the laboratory. (AP/National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases)
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern,” its highest alert level.
The declaration was intended to trigger a coordinated international response and unlock funding to collaborate on vaccines and treatments.
Governments are rolling out vaccines and treatments that were first approved for smallpox, but also work for smallpox.
The US government has distributed 600,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine and deployed 14,000 of Siga Technologies’ TPOXX treatment, officials said, though they did not disclose how many had been administered.
Ms Walensky said the government aimed to vaccinate more than 1.6 million high-risk people.
Dr. Walensky says the declaration will help the United States better manage the disease. (AP: Greg Nash)
US President Joe Biden this month appointed two federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, following emergency declarations by California, Illinois and New York.
First identified in monkeys in 1958, the disease has mild symptoms such as fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions.
People tend to recover within two to four weeks and it is rarely fatal.
Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said it was critical to engage gay community leaders as part of efforts to curb the outbreak, but cautioned against stigmatizing the lifestyle.
“Community involvement has always proven successful,” Dr. Fauci said.
Reuters