<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654878660641,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed87-defd-a17f-fdd754cd0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654878660641,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed87-defd-a17f-fdd754cd0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54878539", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1029527"} }); ","_id":"00000181-4e74-d405-a3e7-dff65d780000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe government is ramping up its response to a growing number of monkeypox cases in the United States through orders for hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses and the distribution of treatment courses.
The U.S., which has diagnosed a total of 45 monkeypox cases since mid-May, has enough doses of two types of vaccines to administer to millions of people if need be, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The country’s strategic national stockpile holds 100 million doses of an older-generation smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000, as well as 72,000 doses of the newer Jynneos vaccine, which has been shown to be 85% effective against monkeypox.
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“We are working with state health departments and the CDC to distribute vaccines and treatments when appropriate,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “While we need to remain vigilant and seek to contain the spread of monkeypox, we have the vaccines and treatments we need to respond.”
In addition to the doses already stored in the national stockpile, the government is scheduled to receive another 300,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine from manufacturer Bavarian Nordic over the next several weeks, with another order of 500,000 doses to be filled and delivered later this year. The company also has 1 million doses for the U.S. on hold to be distributed, if necessary. On top of that, the U.S. holds 15.9 million doses of bulk drug substances that can be filled and finished at the government’s request.
“I want to start by just making very clear we have the tools to protect people from this disease,” said Raj Panjabi, the senior director for global health security and biodefense at the White House. “We have tests for monkeypox. We have vaccines for monkeypox, and we have treatments for monkeypox. We have a multipronged approach to deploy those tools to ensure we’re fighting this outbreak as effectively as possible.”
The government has so far delivered over 1,400 doses of vaccines and 110 treatment courses to 16 states and jurisdictions, O’Connell said.
The monkeypox virus first appeared in the U.S. last month, and cases have steadily ticked up since then. The current tally, 45, is up from a total of 17 confirmed cases across nine states in May. All of the cases confirmed in the U.S. so far are a result of close, sustained physical contact with other people who were infected with the virus.
“This is consistent with what we’ve seen in prior outbreaks and what we know from decades of studying this virus and closely related viruses,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.
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Many patients in the U.S. have experienced the characteristic rash and skin lesions caused by monkeypox, though in concentrated areas such as the genital region, rather than all over the body, as is typical.
The symptoms mirror those of sexually transmitted infections such as herpes and syphilis, raising the possibility that some cases will be misdiagnosed. Some cases have also been co-occurring with STIs, including syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. While the virus is not a sexually transmitted disease in the traditional sense, it is spread most effectively through sustained skin-to-skin contact and has been confirmed mostly among men who have sex with men.
