California and Illinois Declared Monkeypox Emergencies

On Monday, California and Illinois both declared monkeypox emergencies, following an emergency declaration made late Friday night by New York. The announcements were made amid growing concerns that the virus could become the next public health failure in the country.

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US: San Francisco and New York Declare Monkeypox Emergency

"California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach," California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

The declaration will help California to get an additional 72,000 doses of vaccine against monkeypox from the federal government, and enable emergency medical services personnel to administer vaccines, along with deploying vaccine clinics through local and community organization partnerships.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker also declared the monkeypox virus a statewide public health emergency, and the state a "disaster area" regarding the disease. The declaration, with immediate effect and in place for 30 days, will allow the Illinois Department of Public Health to utilize resources for coordinating logistics across state agencies, and quickly and efficiently aid in the distribution of vaccines and in the prevention and treatment of the disease. It will also assist state agencies in coordinating response with the federal government.

Illinois and California were the second and third U.S. state declaring monkeypox emergencies. On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency due to the growing monkeypox cases in the state. The announcement came a day after the New York state commissioner of health declared monkeypox an "imminent threat to public health."

Data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the United States has so far reported nearly 6,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox. New York is the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, with 1,390 reported cases as of Monday, while California and Illinois have reported 827 and 520 cases, respectively. The three states have altogether reported more than 47 percent of all confirmed cases in the country.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that is usually transmitted through body fluids, respiratory droplets and other contaminated materials. The disease usually results in fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. On July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern.