COMMUNITY SPREAD

CDC Identifies Nine Possible Cases of Monkeypox in Seven States

The director of the CDC said that the U.S. has the resources to adequately respond to the outbreak.

The CDC says it has identified nine possible monkeypox cases across seven states: California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. According to Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, all of the cases are among men who have had sex with men, though she emphasized that the disease can affect anyone and urged an approach “guided by science, not stigma.” The CDC did not clarify whether all nine cases have been confirmed. Some of the patients had recently traveled to countries with active outbreaks, but others had not, which Walensky said suggested some community spread. Officials expect to see more cases in the coming days. The U.S. has, according to Walensky, two vaccines approved by the FDA for smallpox housed in the National Strategic Stockpile. “We’ve been preparing for this type of outbreak for decades,” she said.