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The United States has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, the health secretary said Thursday, a move that should free up additional funds and tools to fight the disease.
The statement comes as the number of cases topped 6,600 in the United States on Wednesday, almost all among men who have sex with men.
“We’re ready to take our response to the next level to fight this virus, and we urge all Americans to take monkeypox seriously,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said during an interview. of a briefing.
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The statement will also help improve the availability of data on monkeypox, said Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alongside Bacerra.
The World Health Organization has also declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern”, its highest alert level. Last month’s WHO statement was designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funds to collaborate on vaccines and treatments.
Biden earlier this month named two senior federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, following declarations of emergency by California, Illinois and New York.
First identified in monkeys in 1958, the disease has mild symptoms including fever, body aches and pus-filled skin lesions, and people tend to recover from it in two to four weeks, according to the World Health Organization. It is spread by close physical contact and is rarely fatal.
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Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told Reuters on Thursday that engaging leaders of the gay community was essential as part of efforts to contain the outbreak, but cautioned against stigmatizing the way of life.
“Community engagement has always proven successful,” Fauci said.
Unlike when COVID-19 emerged, there are already vaccines and treatments available for monkeypox, which was first documented in Africa in the 1970s.
The US government had distributed 156,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine nationwide through mid-July. It has ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of the vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.
The first US case of monkeypox was confirmed in Massachusetts in May, followed by another case in California five days later. (Reporting by Manas Mishra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Caroline Humer and Leela de Kretser, Editing by Anil D’Silva and Deepa Babington)
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