WILTON MANORS – The United States now has more monkeypox cases than any other country in the world, and the CDC expects cases to continue to climb.
As cases rise, the World Health Organization has given monkeypox a global health emergency status.
The Biden administration has not yet made that call but did discuss vaccinations for the virus.
The CDC says there are now more than 4,600 confirmed cases in the United States, with more than a quarter of the cases in New York and 17% in California.
“Bottom line is, we need to stay ahead of this and be able to end this outbreak,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Becerra announced Thursday the department will distribute 786,000 newly available doses of the vaccine.
Federal health officials say they will prioritize getting the vaccine to areas with the greatest number of people at risk.
Monkeypox spreads through skin-on-skin and other close contact. Anyone can get it, but so far this outbreak is primarily impacting men who have sex with men.
“This is very triggering for our community. We are a community that was ravaged in the early 80s by the AIDS epidemic,” said GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.
The CDC says in 99% of cases, the patient reported a rash. The other three most common symptoms were tiredness, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
