“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly. I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO has declared monkeypox an international emergency. There are around 16,800 cases reported in 75 countries. During the White House press briefing, Dr. Ashish Jha went over how the administration is tackling the problem:
“First is to dramatically scale up procurement, production, and distribution of vaccines. Second is to significantly expand access to testing. Third is to significantly expand access to treatments. And fourth is outreach to communities most affected by the virus.”
The U.S. has around 3,000 confirmed cases in 45 states. The administration, Dr. Jha said, has distributed 300,000 vaccines, more than any other country. So far there have been five monkeypox-related deaths worldwide.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
