NY Raises Monkeypox Alarm, San Francisco Declares Emergency

By Staff, Agencies

New York and San Francisco have issued monkeypox alerts as cases continue to rise and the United States faces a shortage of vaccines.

Authorities in New York said on Thursday the virus “represented an imminent threat” to public health across the state. Health Commissioner Mary T Bassett said the declaration would help health departments engaged in response and prevention activities “to access additional State reimbursement”.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, California, authorities declared monkeypox a “local public health emergency”. Mayor London Breed said the risk of disease remained low, but the declaration going into effect on August 1 would help in the mobilization of resources.

“San Francisco showed during COVID that early action is essential for protecting public health,” Breed said in a statement on Thursday.

“A few weeks ago, the San Francisco Department of Public Health requested 35,000 vaccines to start to get at those most at risk for contracting the virus. So far, in the last three weeks, we’ve barely received a 1/3 of that request...”

The US has confirmed a total of 4,907 monkeypox cases, of which 1,247 are in New York, and 261 cases have been diagnosed in San Francisco.

Monkeypox is a usually mild virus that causes fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash. It spreads through close contact.

Last week, the World Health Organization [WHO] declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, a label that is designed to sound an alarm that a coordinated international response is needed and could unlock funding and global efforts to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.

Authorities in San Francisco said they were not implementing behavior restrictions or measures like those carried out during the coronavirus pandemic.

The US and the European Union have approved the use of a vaccine made by Danish drug-maker Bavarian Nordic, in efforts to contain the outbreak.

Globally more than 18,000 cases have been detected in 78 countries, with the majority in Europe, according to the WHO.