Monkeypox outbreak declared public health emergency
On July 23, the World Health Organization declared the global monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency, and the Biden administration is considering pronouncing monkeypox a national health emergency.
“The outbreak has continued to grow, and there are now more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news release. “There is also a clear risk of further international spread.”
Since the first case of monkeypox was confirmed in the U.S. in May, the disease, endemic to Africa, has spread rapidly. In fact, on Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control reported 3,487 monkeypox cases nationwide, 10 times the number of cases reported last month.
According to the CDC, Pennsylvania has the ninth highest number of monkeypox cases in the country, with 84 confirmed cases reported July 25.
That’s a drastic increase from July 1, when only eight monkeypox cases had been reported in the state.
“Currently, 102 Pennsylvanians have been identified by the department as orthopox/monkeypox positive cases,” Pennsylvania Department of Health press secretary Mark O’Neill said in an email Tuesday. “The department does not provide case counts at the county level in order to protect patient confidentiality.”
But Allegheny County reported two additional cases of monkeypox last Thursday, bringing its official total case number to 12, or 21% of all confirmed cases in the commonwealth.
“(We’ve had), without pulling the charts, right now 20 to 25 positives,” said Donnie Nardelli, BSN/RN at Central Outreach Wellness Clinic in Pittsburgh’s North Shore. “That is North Shore, Erie and Aliquippa. Washington has one (positive) and one pending.”
A Fayette County individual tested positive at the North Shore location last month, the clinic confirmed in early July.
Central Outreach is one of hundreds of clinics nationwide to receive shipments of monkeypox tests and vaccines as part of the Biden administration’s response to the outbreak.
In May, about 6,000 monkeypox tests were available weekly. Now, the Biden administration announced late last week, the capacity for testing has been increased to 80,000 tests per week.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made 374,000 vaccine doses available for ordering, and has so far delivered 191,000 to state and city health departments nationwide, the department said in a news release July 22.
“Initially, we got about 50 vaccines,” said Nardelli, adding the clinic received a second shipment of about 400 vaccines last Friday.
“Washington, Pa., did get a couple of boxes of vaccine as well,” Nardelli said.
The vaccines received at Central Outreach were used to protect frontline workers and those at high risk of exposure to monkeypox, Nardelli said.
Washington Hospital is also testing for monkeypox, but has not yet reported a confirmed case, said Stephanie Wagoner, manager of marketing for Washington Health System.
Monkeypox, which belongs to the same virus family as smallpox, is spread through close or intimate contact with an infected individual. Monkeypox has so far been most prevalent among the gay community, with a handful of cases nationally affecting cisgender women. One toddler from California state tested positive for monkeypox last week, the CDC reported.
It can take weeks for symptoms to present in infected individuals. The most common symptoms of monkeypox are fever, head and body aches; chills and exhaustion; and the telltale rash, which looks like pimples or blisters and appears on the face, hands, feet or genitals, or inside the mouth.
“It’s a very strange disease,” said Nardelli, noting the monkeypox outbreak follows on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s very deja vu. There’s certainly a more visual aspect to it than COVID. I’ve been stressing to people – community set aside – if you see a random skin lesion pop up, certainly if you’ve been traveling or been in large groups, don’t hesitate to get it checked out. If you have any concern, let us know.”
Monkeypox lasts about two to four weeks and can be treated with both the monkeypox and smallpox vaccines. Prior to this outbreak, O’Neill said, monkeypox had not been identified in humans living in the U.S. since 2003.