SOME OPTIMISM

Experts Say There Are Hopeful Signs U.S. Monkeypox Outbreak Is Slowing

Europe’s outbreak may also be waning.

Tallying 17,000, the U.S. currently has around one-third of all known monkeypox cases worldwide—and experts think that case counts are slowing in the U.S. Ashwin Vasan, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene commissioner, said that vaccination efforts and community outreach have been key players in responding to the outbreak, which primarily affects men who have sex with men. New York City was a major hot spot. There are also early signs of the outbreak waning in Europe, where cases first started cropping up in May, raising red flags about the transmission of a disease that is only endemic in Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana (in animals only), Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. Although health officials are hopeful that we are turning a corner, they continue to criticize the slow rollout of monkeypox testing and vaccination, and urge citizens to continue taking this seriously. “If anything, we need to continue to strongly communicate and educate the public about this pathogen,” said Rodney Rohde, a public-health expert at Texas State University.