Monkeypox Declared A Public Health Emergency By The US

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden’s administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency, which is a move that would free up new funds, assist in data gathering and allow the deployment of additional personnel in the fight against the disease.

This move came as the nationwide cases topped 6,600, around a quarter of them from New York state, and experts warned that swift action was necessary if the outbreak is to be contained in its early stages.

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Xavier Becerra, the Health and Human Services secretary, said, “We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus, and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to help us tackle this virus.”

It is believed that the real number of cases could be much higher than official figures suggest, since symptoms in the current global outbreak, which began in May, have included subtle signs, such as single lesions, in addition to the more familiar widespread rashes.

This could lead to cases either being missed or misdiagnosed since the presentation is similar to common sexually transmitted infections.