The Biden administration declares monkeypox a public health emergency

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, said Thursday that he was declaring a public health emergency over the monkeypox outbreak.

“Given the evolving circumstances on the ground, I am declaring a #monkeypox public health emergency,” Becerra said in a statement. “We are ready to take our response to the next level to address this virus and urge all Americans to take monkeypox seriously.”

The monkeypox outbreak has infected more than 6,600 Americans. The emergency declaration frees up federal money and other resources to fight the virus, which can cause fever, body aches, chills, fatigue and pimple-like bumps in many parts of the body. A public health emergency can be prolonged, similar to what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks during a news conference at the department’s headquarters in Washington on June 28, 2022.
(Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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

Smallpox INFECTIONS IN INDIA REACH 9, JUST TWO DAYS AFTER FIRST NOTIFIED INFECTION

Last week, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency, with cases in more than 70 countries. A global emergency is the WHO’s highest alert level, but the designation does not necessarily mean that a disease is particularly communicable or lethal.

California, Illinois and New York have issued statements in the past week, as have New York City, San Francisco and San Diego County.

The monkeypox virus is spread through prolonged, close skin-to-skin contact, as well as sharing bedding, towels, and clothing. Health officials have stressed that the virus can infect anyone, but the people who have gotten sick so far have mostly been men who have sex with men.

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Earlier this week, the Biden administration named senior officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to act as White House coordinators to combat the outbreak of smallpox

The Associated Press contributed to this report.