WHO declares Monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency, US reports more than 6600 cases.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared Monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency on Thursday (4th August).
Biden appointed two top federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, after the declarations of emergencies by California, Illinois and New York. The cases in the United States have crossed 6,600, as of Wednesday’s data.
The World Health Organization has also declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern,” its highest alert level.
Almost all of the cases are reported among men who have sex with men. The disease has mild symptoms including fever, aches, and pus-filled skin lesions, and the patients tend to recover from it within four weeks.