After the first case was reported in the United States in mid-May, monkeypox is advancing in the United States and a State of Emergency is declared after more than 6,600 probable or confirmed cases.
The announcement was made this afternoon during a briefing by the Department of Health and Human Services ‒HHS, for its acronym in English‒.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the states with the highest number of monkeypox cases are California (826), Florida (525), Georgia (504), Illinois (547), New York (1,666), and Texas (527).
However, those where there has been significant progress in the disease are DC ‒257‒, Maryland ‒157‒, Massachusetts ‒134‒, New Jersey ‒160‒, Pennsylvania ‒173‒, Virginia ‒105‒, and Washington ‒134‒.
So far, Montana and Wyoming are the states that have not reported a single positive case.
On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” after more than 16,000 cases were reported in 75 countries around the world.
"There is a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low at this time," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time.
This, he said, would potentially require a coordinated international response.
Cities such as New York and San Francisco have declared a State of Emergency, as have states such as California, New York and Illinois.
On Tuesday, President Joseph Biden named Robert Fenton as the White House national coordinator for the monkeypox response. Fenton, a regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency who oversees Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada, will coordinate the federal government’s response to the outbreak.
Additionally, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, serves as deputy coordinator.
Monkeypox is spread through close physical contact between people. This means that anyone can contract the disease. However, according to the current outbreak, certain populations are affected by monkeypox more than others, including men who have sex with men.
Based on previous monkeypox outbreaks around the world, some groups may also be at higher risk of serious outcomes if they contract the virus, including people with weakened immune systems, the elderly, young children under 8 years old, and pregnant people.
Symptoms of monkeypox may include:
Rashes, bumps, or blisters on or around the genitals or other areas such as the hands, feet, chest, or face.
Flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, and fatigue. These symptoms may occur before or after the rash appears, or not at all.
Monkeypox can be spread to anyone through close personal contact, often skin-to-skin, including:
- Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs or body fluids of a person with monkeypox.
- Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels) and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
- Contact with respiratory secretions.
This direct contact can occur during intimate contact, including:
- Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals (penis, testicles, lips, and vagina) or anus (anus) of a person with monkeypox.
- Hugs, massages and kisses.
- Prolonged face-to-face contact.
- Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person with monkeypox and that have not been disinfected, such as bedding, towels, fetish items, and sex toys.
A pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her fetus through the placenta.
It is also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.
Monkeypox symptoms usually begin within 3 weeks of exposure to the virus. If someone has flu-like symptoms, they will typically develop a rash 1 to 4 days later, the CDC says.
Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms begin until the rash has healed, all scabs have fallen off, and a new layer of skin has formed. The illness usually lasts 2 to 4 weeks.
The CDC initially announced that monkeypox vaccines would be released from the Strategic National Stockpile and offered to “high-risk” contacts of patients with the disease, as well as health care workers treating them.
Federal health officials have since expanded vaccination efforts to focus on the broader community of men who have sex with men, the demographic that makes up the majority of cases.
With information from CNN.
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