More On: Monkeypox
UK officials say that the number of monkeypox cases may have reached its peak
Monkeypox to be Declared a Public Health Emergency by the Biden Administration
WH Response to Criticism of Monkeypox Response Delay: We 'Met the Moment'
California declares monkeypox state of emergency
China anticipates a profit from the sale of monkeypox test kits
On Saturday, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency because monkeypox is spreading around the world without being stopped.
So far, 839 cases have been reported in New York City, but the city's Department of Health says, "There are probably many more cases that haven't been diagnosed." That's about a third of the more than 2,400 cases of the disease that have been reported in the US.
“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
“For the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” he added. “That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.”
The US government is worried that monkeypox could spread through sexual contact like gonorrhea, herpes, and HIV. The disease is already common in Africa, where most people get it from rodents and other small animals that bite them.
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