According to a new Politico story, the U.S. has purchased half a million extra monkeypox vaccine doses for delivery this year, indicating a substantial escalation in the fight against the fast-growing viral pandemic worldwide.
The order boosts the total amount of monkeypox doses owned by the U.S. from 1.4 million to 1.9 million, at a time when the vaccine is in limited supply in many other countries. However, the producer Bavarian Nordic is holding many of those dosages until the federal government requests them.
Monkeypox does not require widespread immunization, according to health professionals, but those at high risk of infection will almost certainly need the vaccine.
With 15 and 11, respectively, California and New York have reported the most.
The Ohio Department of Health announced it has found a possible infection in an adult male resident, with confirmation testing at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now looking into the matter.
Chicago's case count has more than doubled to eight patients, with at least one case linked to last month's annual fetish conference, Mr. Leather.
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working feverishly to contain the outbreak before the tropical disease spreads to the United States.
However, a scientist warned on Monday that 'undetected transmission chains' may already exist in Massachusetts after the state discovered two cases that were not linked to another known infection.
More than 1,600 cases have been detected in more than 40 countries outside of its native West Africa, with the majority in the United Kingdom (470), Spain (307), and Portugal (209).
The recent increase in monkeypox cases in North America and Europe is unusual because the virus is not endemic in these regions. Monkeypox is typically found in Central and West African rainforests where the virus-carrying animals live.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), warned last week that the window for containing the virus in non-endemic countries is rapidly closing.
The virus itself is not a sexually transmitted infection, according to WHO officials, but the recent outbreak appears to have spread among men who have sex with other men. Officials also emphasized that the disease can affect anyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
The CDC issued a warning on Friday that some people who have recently been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases may also be infected with the monkeypox virus.
Although the majority of new cases of monkeypox have been seen in gay or bisexual men, experts warn that anyone is at risk.
People typically become infected with the monkeypox virus through contact with infected animals' or humans' skin lesions or bodily fluids, or contact with virus-contaminated materials.
