According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this week, the monkeypox virus is unlikely to be eliminated from the United States in the near future.
The CDC, in a technical brief, said the outbreak is slowing down due to the increasing availability of vaccines, people have become more aware of how to avoid infection, and immunity has increased. among gay and bisexual men, the group most affected by the virus. .
But low-level transmission of the virus can continue indefinitely in men who have sex with other men, according to the report. The CDC said it has no projections for the total number of people who may be infected with the virus.
The Biden Administration declare a public health emergency in August in an effort to ramp up vaccines, testing, treatment, and outreach in an effort to eliminate the virus from the United States.
The US is trying to contain the largest outbreak of monkeypox in the world, with nearly 26,000 cases reported across all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, according to CDC data. At least two people have died from the disease in the US, according to the data.
The global outbreak of monkeypox, the largest in history, is very unusual because the virus is circulating widely in countries where it is not normally found. Historically, monkeypox was endemic in remote areas of West and Central Africa. In that context, humans often contract viruses from animals. There is very little spread between people.
Monkeypox is now widely spread among people, mainly due to close sexual contact between gay and bisexual men. The disease is rarely fatal, but patients develop blister-like lesions in sensitive areas that are extremely painful. In some cases, the pain is so great that people need to be hospitalized and In rare cases, people with poor immune systems have died.
CDC, in its report, said the virus is still spreading mainly among men who have sex with men. But anyone can get the virus from close contact with an infected person or with contaminated materials. Health authorities have confirmed 29 children cases of the virus so far, and a total of 78 cases of children are under investigation as of the end of September.
Although 96% of patients are men, to date 408 women have contracted the virus in the United States. Four pregnant women and one breastfeeding woman have contracted monkeypox.
The CDC says the percentage of patients who identify as gay or bisexual men has decreased over time, with 75% of those who provided a recent sexual history reporting male-to-male sex.
But a large number of cases have sexual history data missing, and more than 90% of infections are in men, according to the CDC. According to the public health agency, the proportion of reported cases of male-to-male sex may be due to a lack of data rather than to a change in how the virus is spread.
The CDC says the outbreak is likely to remain concentrated among men who have sex with men over the long term, with infection rates continuing to decline in the coming weeks and dropping significantly over the next several months.
More than 684,000 people have been immunized against Jynneos monkeypox to date. Earlier this week, the CDC reported preliminary data indicating that vaccines are providing at least some protection Anti-infection. The vaccination campaign mainly focuses on gay and bisexual men.
According to the CDC, the outbreak could begin to accelerate again if the virus begins to spread widely in the U.S. population through heterosexual networks or non-sexual contact. sex. But no country in the current global outbreak has found clear evidence of the long-term spread of the virus outside the sexual networks of gay and bisexual men, according to the CDC.
The public health agency also warned that the virus could start spreading faster among people if it become established in an animal population In the US, the CDC says it is not yet known which North American animals are most susceptible to infection.
In Africa, the virus is mainly spread from animals to humans. If monkeypox occurs in animals in the United States, it will be very difficult to eradicate.
