Monkeypox emergency declared in New York, California and Illinois as US cases rise

3 LARGE US states declared a state of emergency in response to the monkeypox outbreak as the viral disease continues to spread around the world. 

California joined Illinois and New York in announcing the emergency, which should bolster vaccination efforts and stem the rise in new infections. The three states currently account for almost half of about 6,000 monkeypox infections in the US and are home to three of the country’s largest cities. 

California is working “to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Monday. 

The status change means emergency medical services personnel can administer monkeypox shots, similar to the statutory authorisation recently enacted for pharmacists to give vaccines. 

The World Health Organization last month moved to qualify the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. The change paved the way for a stepped-up global cooperation to stop the virus, which has now spread to dozens of countries. The last time the WHO made a similar declaration was during the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak in January 2020.

A cousin of the smallpox virus, monkeypox had mostly been confined to developing countries for years, but has spread across Europe and the US in recent months. The pathogen typically causes flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash that often starts on the face and spreads down the belly. The illness can last for two weeks to a month, and can be deadly. 

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WHO says more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox globally, most in Europe

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So far the outbreak of the virus is concentrated in men who have sex with men, and particularly in those who have multiple sexual partners. The WHO believes that using mitigation strategies in the populations that are already affected by the outbreak could make it possible to stop the spread of the virus more widely. BLOOMBERG