Local public health and elected officials today announced the declaration of a local health emergency in response to monkeypox in the San Diego area.
The action does not indicate that San Diegans are at a higher risk of contracting the virus, but is intended to reassure the public that local health officials are working proactively to anticipate any challenges that may arise. Local Emergency Health Care must be ratified after 7 days by the County Board of Supervisors and will need to be re-ratified every 30 days thereafter if necessary.
“Our county has taken monkeypox very seriously from the beginning, and those efforts will continue,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher, who was joined by other elected officials in announcing the declaration. “Today, the county is declaring a local health emergency for monkeypox to align our efforts with the approach taken by the state of California. It will also allow us to strengthen our county’s vaccination, prevention, education and treatment initiatives.”
Declaring a state of emergency gives the county the right to:
- respond more effectively to monkeypox
- seek and use government resources to administer vaccines
- leveraging public health infrastructure related to testing, contact tracing and case investigation, and community outreach and engagement
- to ensure that county health professionals and other local stakeholders have all the necessary tools at their disposal
“All of these strategies were developed and strengthened during the response to COVID-19,” said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, county public health officer. “To prevent monkeypox infection from spreading throughout the community, prevention is the key, and that includes vaccinations.”
The county has already taken multiple actions to address this emerging threat. Works with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community to develop messaging, educational materials and to administer the limited number of vaccines coming to the area. The county also communicates with other local jurisdictions and community organizations.
The county held a forum, mass vaccination clinics and numerous other outreach efforts. To date, 3,987 doses of monkeypox vaccine have been received in San Diego County.
As of August 1, a total of 46 confirmed and probable cases were registered. Only one patient required hospitalization and there were no deaths. All cases were male and their ages ranged from 27 to 58 years. The number of cases in the region will now be updated daily, Monday through Friday.
A patient receives monkeypox vaccine at a recent vaccination event.
Two vaccination events have already taken place, with more than 1,400 monkeypox vaccines administered over four days. The county also made vaccine doses available to local health care providers. Some doses of monkeypox vaccine are also available at county public health centers and STD clinics.
The county has also distributed 110 courses of Tecovirimat, a drug used to treat monkeypox, to local health organizations and county clinics.
Given the monkeypox vaccine shortage and as directed by the California Department of Public Health, the county is focusing on getting the first doses to as many high-risk people as possible. For the current outbreak, this includes men who have sex with multiple male partners and close contacts of reported cases. The county’s approach is consistent with strategies in other major jurisdictions with monkeypox outbreaks, including New York and San Francisco.
The state distributes vaccines to counties based on the number of monkeypox cases, as well as the number of early male syphilis cases reported in a region.
The county also created a text message alert system to send real-time information to San Diegans about monkeypox in the region. To sign up to receive messages, text COSD MONKEYPOX to 468-311. A social media and education campaign is underway to raise awareness of monkeypox.
For more information about monkeypox, how to prevent it, who should get vaccinated, visit the county’s monkeypox website or call 2-1-1.
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