What Our COVID-19 Response Can Teach Us About Containing Monkeypox

Monkeypox and COVID-19 are different in many ways. Though relatively rare, monkeypox has been around for decades; indeed, it has become endemic to parts of central and western Africa. There is already a vaccine that can prevent infection and research to show that monkeypox typically spreads via close or prolonged physical contact with an infectious person or their bodily fluids—meaning, based on what researchers know now, it probably won’t spread as widely or as fast as SARS-CoV-2, which can travel invisibly through the air. Nonetheless, there has been some deja vu as monkeypox cases tick upward, reaching 780 in 27 non-endemic countries as of the World Health Organization’s latest update two days ago. Once again, a virus unknown to most people is spreading across the globe. Once again, it is turning up in people without relevant travel history or known exposure to a sick person. And once again, some experts say, public-health authorities are missing chances to block its path. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Monkeypox testing in the U.S. currently runs through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as was true of COVID-19 testing at the start of the pandemic. Joseph Osmundson, a clinical assistant professor of biology at New York University who co-authored a recent New York Times opinion piece on monkeypox response, says regulators need to start preparing now, while cases are low, to be ready in the event that changes. That me...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news