Authorities in New York City declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus and described to the city as “the epicenter” of the outbreak.
The announcement by Mayor Eric Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan They said that 150,000 inhabitants could be in danger of being infected.
The measure will allow the authorities to issue emergency orders in accordance with the city’s health code and modify clauses of that regulation to launch actions aimed at slowing down infections.
In the past two days, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide disaster emergency declaration and the state health department flagged monkeypox as an “imminent threat to public health.”
A vaccination center in New York. Reuters Photo
The cases
The state of New York accumulated until Friday 1,345 casesaccording to information compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
California follows in second place with the most cases with 799.
“We will continue to work with our federal partners to secure more doses as soon as they become available,” Adams and Vasan said in a statement.
“This outbreak must be tackled urgentlymeasures and resources, both nationally and globally, and this declaration of a public health emergency reflects the seriousness of the moment.
The World Health Organization declared monkeypox as a global health emergency on July 23 and the mayor of San Francisco announced a state of emergency on Thursday due to the increase in cases.
A nurse prepares a dose of smallpox vaccine. AP Photo
The other rare disease persisted for decades in parts of central and western Africa with no known cause of large outbreaks outside the continent or widespread spread among people as of May, when the authorities detected dozens of cases in Europe, North America and other latitudes.
vaccinations
To date they have been registered since May more than 22,000 cases of monkeypox in nearly 80 countries and 75 deaths possibly linked to the disease in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and the Congo.
On Friday, Brazil and Spain reported deaths related to the disease, the first recorded outside of Africa. Spain reported a second death from the monkeypox virus on Saturday.
In mid-July, New York activated a monkeypox cell phone reporting system by texting “MONKEYPOX” or “MONKEYPOXESP” to a local phone number (81336).
The messages include information on symptoms and disease transmission, as well as guidelines for action after exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States have determined that the JYNNEOS vaccine, specific against this disease, It is offered as a priority to all risk groups.
These include people who have had close physical contact with a result, who have had an identified sexual partner, or who have had sexual intercourse in a location where a monkeypox outbreak has been identified.
Source: AFP and AP
