Authorities in New York City declared a public health emergency over the spread of the monkeypox virus on Saturday, calling the city the “epicenter” of the outbreak.
The announcement by Mayor Eric Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said about 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection. The declaration would allow officials to issue emergency orders under the city’s health code and implement measures to slow the spread.
“We will continue to work with our federal partners to provide more.” [vaccine] doses as soon as they become available,” Adams and Vasan said in the statement. “This outbreak must be met with urgency, action and resources, both nationally and globally, and this declaration of a public health emergency reflects the seriousness of the moment.”
In the past two days, New York’s governor, Cathy Hochul, has declared a state of emergency, and the state health department has called monkeypox an “imminent public health threat.”
New York had 1,345 cases as of Friday, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California is second with 799.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a global health emergency on July 23, and the mayor of San Francisco on Thursday declared a state of emergency because of the rising number of cases.
The once-rare disease has been found in parts of central and west Africa for decades, but was not known to cause large outbreaks outside the continent or spread widely among humans until May, when authorities discovered dozens of outbreaks in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
To date, there have been more than 22,000 reported cases of monkeypox in almost 80 countries since May, with about 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo. On Friday, Brazil and Spain reported monkeypox-related deaths, the first reported outside Africa. Spain reported a second death from monkeypox on Saturday.
The virus is spread through prolonged and close skin-to-skin contact, as well as by sharing bedding, towels and clothing. In Europe and North America, it has spread mostly among men who have sex with men, although health officials stress that the virus can infect anyone.
The type of monkeypox virus identified in this outbreak is rarely fatal and people usually recover within weeks, but the lesions and blisters caused by the virus are painful. The virus is more of a problem among vulnerable people, such as those with weakened immune systems or pregnant women.
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