Washington: U.S. declares monkeypox a public health emergency. The announcement will allow more funds to fight the spread of monkeypox, aid in data collection, and mobilize more health workers to fight monkeypox.
The validity of the declaration is 90 days. After this the situation can be assessed and extended. There are currently more than 7,100 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the US. Most of these are in New York State.
Genios, a smallpox vaccine, is approved for use in the U.S. against monkeypox. So far, 6,00,000 doses of Genios vaccine have been distributed across the US, officials said.
Last month, the World Health Organization declared the spread of monkeypox as a global health emergency amid a sharp rise in cases around the world. There are currently 26,864 cases of monkeypox in 88 countries.