CNN
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Here is an overview of monkeypox in the United States. In 2022, an epidemic was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus originated in Africa and is the cousin of the smallpox virus.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Monkeypox is a pox virus. It usually causes sores resembling pimples or blisters and flu-like symptoms such as fever. The disease is rarely fatal.
Monkeypox is transmitted by close contact. This includes direct physical contact with lesions as well as “respiratory secretions” shared through face-to-face interaction and touching objects that have been contaminated with monkeypox lesions or fluids. The virus can also pass to the fetus through the placenta.
Anyone can get sick from monkeypox, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says more than 99% of monkeypox cases in the US during the 2022 outbreak were in men having sex with men. However, monkeypox is generally not considered a sexually transmitted disease.
Monkeypox is usually found in West and Central Africa, but other cases have been seen in Europe, including the UK, and other parts of the world in recent years. These cases are usually linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the poxvirus.
The WHO has named two additional virus variants and is working with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to rename the monkeypox virus using non-stigmatizing and non-offensive social and cultural nomenclature.
CDC map of monkeypox and number of cases
WHO situation reports
1958 – Monkeypox is discovered when monkeys kept for research cause two outbreaks in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1970 – The first human case of monkeypox is recorded in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
2003 – A monkeypox outbreak in the United States is linked to infected prairie dogs imported from Ghana and results in more than 80 cases.
July 16, 2021 – CDC and local health officials in Dallas announce they are investigating a case of monkeypox in a traveler from Nigeria. “The individual is a resident of the City of Dallas who traveled from Nigeria to Dallas, arriving at Love Field Airport on July 9, 2021. The individual is hospitalized in Dallas and is in stable condition,” said the Dallas County Department of Health and Health. Personal services. in a report.
May 17, 2022 – The first confirmed US case of monkeypox in the 2022 outbreak is reported to the CDC in a traveler who returned from Canada to Massachusetts.
May 19, 2022 – The WHO reports that death rates in the monkeypox outbreak are between 3% and 6%.
May 23, 2022 – The CDC announces the release of monkeypox vaccine doses from the country’s strategic national stockpile for “high-risk individuals.” In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent monkeypox.
May 26, 2022 – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announces that the United States is distributing the monkeypox vaccine to states where cases have been reported and recommends vaccination of those most at risk of infection due to a direct contact with a person with monkeypox.
June 22, 2022 – The CDC announces a partnership with five commercial labs to increase testing capacity in the United States.
June 23, 2022 – New York City launches the first monkeypox vaccination clinic in the United States.
June 28, 2022 – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden administration announce an enhanced vaccination strategy and report that more than 9,000 vaccine doses have been distributed to date.
July 22, 2022 – Two American children contract monkeypox – a first in the United States. According to the CDC, the two cases are unrelated.
July 23, 2022 – WHO declares monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, “an extraordinary event which may pose a risk to public health in other countries through the international spread of the disease and may require a coordinated international response” .
July 27, 2022 – After weeks of limited monkeypox vaccines, more than 786,000 more doses are being made available in the United States, according to HHS.
July 29, 2022 – New York declares a state disaster emergency in response to the monkeypox outbreak.
August 1, 2022 – California and Illinois declare states of emergency. California has reported more than 800 cases, while Illinois has had more than 500, according to CDC data.
August 2, 2022 – A monkeypox response team is created by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden appoints Robert Fenton of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to serve as National Monkeypox Response Coordinator for the White House.
August 2, 2022 – A report from Spain’s National Institute of Microbiology says two men, aged 31 and 44, who died of monkeypox in unrelated cases, both developed encephalitis or brain swelling, which can be triggered by viral infections. Encephalitis is a very rare condition known to be associated with monkeypox. It was reported in people with monkeypox in West Africa and in a patient in the United States in 2003 during the small outbreak linked to imported prairie dogs.
August 4, 2022 – The Biden administration declares the monkeypox outbreak a national public health emergency.
August 5, 2022 – A report published by the CDC reveals that 94% of the cases involved men who had recent sexual or intimate contact with another man. Additionally, 54% of the cases involved Black Americans and Latinos.
August 9, 2022 – In an effort to stretch the limited supply of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine, federal health officials are allowing lower doses to be administered using a different injection method. The new injection strategy allows healthcare providers to administer shallow injections intradermally, between the layers of the skin, with one-fifth of the standard dose instead of subcutaneously, into the skin layer. of skin. fat under the skin, with the highest dose.
August 18, 2022 – The White House announces the acceleration of the HHS vaccine distribution schedule, with the availability of 1.8 million additional doses of the Jynneos vaccine. Additional vaccines will be distributed to communities hosting large LGBTQI+ events.
August 19, 2022 – King County in Washington, which includes Seattle, is declaring monkeypox a public health emergency, with more than 270 recorded cases.
September 12, 2022 – The first American death from monkeypox is confirmed in Los Angeles County, California.
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