Salem To Host Monkeypox Forum At Witch City Mall

SALEM, MA — A roundtable talk about the risks and realities of monkeypox will take place at the Witch City Mall in East India Square in Salem on Thursday after the Salem Board of Health released a public statement on the emerging disease earlier in the week.

The Board of Health on Monday advised high risk individuals to take appropriate precautions to prevent monkeypox exposure and, if eligible, get vaccinated in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and MA Department of Public Health guidelines and recommendations to help prevent infection.

The Board of Health statement said: "The majority of reported MPV cases occur among people assigned male at birth and most frequently among those males who identify as gay, bisexual, and/or men who have sex with men. However, any person, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation can acquire and spread monkeypox.

"Although the virus does not spread easily between people, most infections last anywhere from two to four weeks and can be very burdensome to an infected person."

The North Shore Alliance for GLBTQ+ Youth and North Shore Public Health Collaborative will host the roundtable to discuss the current state of monkeypox, the epidemiology as we understand it today and answer questions about the rare outbreak.

North Shore residents can also join the roundtable virtually here.

Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)