Monkeypox Declared A Public Health Emergency In U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC — Federal health officials on Thursday declared the U.S. monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as the number of infected Americans topped 6,600.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra made the announcement on a call with reporters and later confirmed it in a statement posted on social media.

"We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus. We urge every American to take monkeypox seriously," Becerra wrote.

Declaring a public health emergency will help bolster the federal response to the outbreak. It will free up federal money and accelerate vaccine distribution in order to fight the virus, which may cause fever, body aches, chills, fatigue, and pimple-like bumps on many parts of the body.

The declaration comes as the Biden administration faces criticism over monkeypox vaccine availability. Clinics in major cities such as New York and San Francisco say they haven’t received enough of the two-shot vaccine to meet demand, and some have stopped offering the second dose to ensure an ample supply of first doses.

The White House said it has made more than 1.1 million doses available and has helped to boost domestic diagnostic capacity to 80,000 tests per week.

In July, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global emergency.

Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an "extraordinary event" that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. The organization previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

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The monkeypox virus spreads through prolonged and close skin-to-skin contact, including hugging, cuddling, and kissing, as well as sharing bedding, towels, and clothing.

The people who have gotten sick so far have been primarily men who have sex with men; however, health officials emphasize that the virus can infect anyone.

Only two states — Montana and Wyoming — have no confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York leads the country with 1,666 cases, followed by California and Illinois with 826 and 547 cases, respectively.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.