The Government of the United States has declared this Thursday a national health emergency due to the outbreak of monkeypox in the country, where Thousands of infections have already been registered. However, at the moment, there is no record of any deaths. Xavier BecerraUS Secretary of Health, has stated that “we are prepared to take our response to the next level.”
The declaration will allow national agencies to access emergency funds and will facilitate the management of vaccines and treatments for the disease. It will also promote the work of awareness and information which, according to the authorities, are essential to contain the infections, which are advancing rapidly in the country. “We encourage all Americans to take monkeypox seriously and take responsibility to help us deal with this virus,” the health secretary added.
Earlier this week, the White House announced the creation of a response group to deal with the spread of monkeypox, after being criticized for being slow to buy vaccines and treatments. Last week, health authorities announced that more than a million vaccines against the disease would be made available to the states in the coming days, of which 600,000 have already been delivered, Becerra announced.
More than 6,500 infections
In addition, they expect to receive other 150,000 doses in September, and additional vaccinations in October and November. The country currently registers more than 6,500 monkeypox infections, a figure much higher than the 4,600 registered last week.
The declaration of a national emergency will also force states share health information about smallpox of the monkey with federal authorities, which will speed up the response to the emergency, explained the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky.
The World Health Organization (WHO) already declared an international health emergency due to the outbreak two weeks ago, after more than 16,000 cases have been detected in 75 countries, many of them European, and some deaths.
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