Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that nine monkeypox cases were identified in seven states: California, Florida Florida Massachusetts New York Utah Virginia and Washington.

The U.S. is equipped with the necessary resources to assist us in our fight against monkeypox. In a briefing, Rochelle Wilensky from the CDC stated that we have been preparing for this outbreak for decades.

Walensky mentioned two vaccines that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for smallpox and stored in the National Strategic Stockpile. There are 100 million US doses of ACAM2000, a vaccine. Jynneos has been FDA-approved to be used against monkeypox. Some doses have already been distributed.

Some U.S.-based patients may have traveled in the past to countries where monkeypox was spreading. However, not all of them. Walensky explained that this is a reason to believe that monkeypox has been spreading in some areas.

Although the cases involve men who have sex only with men, Walensky stressed that there is no limit to their exposure.

Other communities, outside the LGBTQ community, also have to be vigilant. The transmission can happen whether you are in that community or not in that community,” said Dr. Raj Panjabi, senior director for global health security and biodefense at the White House National Security Council.

Massachusetts: Last week confirmed the first U.S. case in the current outbreak: a man who recently traveled to Canada. The state’s health division said that he had been admitted to hospital on May 12th and that he is in stable condition.

The CDC described the man’s lesions as firm, deep-seated, bumpy and well-defined, which is characteristic of monkeypox. Patients will often experience a small bump on their skin that develops into blisters.

According to New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC), the second patient, who arrived at Bellevue Hospital May 19, tested positive for Orthopoxvirus. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, although the CDC test results did not confirm the presence of the monkeypox virus in the patient’s body, they stated that the patient was presumed to have been diagnosed with it.

Salt Lake County Utah found two adult cases in their household. After traveling to an international area with monkeypox earlier in the month, they began feeling symptoms. Salt Lake County Health Department said.

The CDC has confirmed both cases as having monkeypox, the department stated on Wednesday. Patients are expected fully to recover as their illnesses are not severe. 

Florida’s two monkeypox cases are both in Broward County. At least one of these is related to international travelAccording to CDC officials, Monday was a good day. The patients remain isolated.

King County Health Department, Washington is currently reviewing a case of a man who visited a country that has had monkeypox in the past month. He’s currently recovering back at home. officials saidAfter being tested positive for orthopoxvirus Monday,

The CDC confirmed that California is the victim in this case. On Saturday, the patient was identified. The orthopoxvirus test came back positive on Monday.

“This case seems to be connected to recent travels to Europe,” Dr. Olivia Kasirye (Sacrament’s Public Health Officer), said. said in a statement. Her comments were accompanied by the observation that “the risk for the general population is extremely low.”

On Thursday, CDC officials included Virginia on the list of states with cases of monkeypox. However they didn’t provide any further details.

So was the Massachusetts case. the CDC explained. The agency said the patient got the West African strain of monkeypox, which tends to cause mild disease. In the past, around 1 percent have died from this strain. according to the World Health Organization.

The CDC announced Monday that Massachusetts officials have begun to investigate more than 200 contacts of the man, many of them health care workers.

White House Senior Administration Official said Tuesday that doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital had been exposed to the man long before they realized he was suffering from monkeypox. Because the doctors were not properly protected, they have been offered the vaccine. This could prevent the doctor from developing any symptoms or contracting the disease.

In Monkeypox, it is an endemic disease 11 African countriesIt includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the majority of the cases in the world are concentrated. The largest outbreak of monkeypox in America was before this month. In 2003, 47 people were infected by pet prairie dogs.

People infected with the virus are usually those who have been bitten or scratched by animals. However, experts believe that the virus is spreading skin-to–skin among humans at present. This includes sexual activity. However, Monkeypox cannot be transmitted sexually.

Monkeypox can be contracted from contact with other people’s rashes or lesions. This is often after someone has had flu-like symptoms. Recent cases have shown genital rashes that didn’t spread to other areas of the body. This could help make infections more visible. World Health Organization officials said Monday. 

Experts are optimistic that this outbreak can be controlled through contact trace and other methods. targeted vaccinations.

Jennifer McQuiston (deputy director, CDC’s High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology division), said that they are working to control the current cases so that the disease doesn’t spread.

McQuiston said that “We are continuing to monitor what’s happening and consider whether wider vaccination recommendations might make sense.” However, McQuiston stated that there were only nine cases currently known. McQuiston said that he has contacts who have been identified as being associated with the cases most likely to benefit from vaccination, so this is where we are concentrating our efforts right now.

In 2019, the FDA approved Jynneos’ vaccine. Although it is the only vaccine approved for monkeypox in 2019, older smallpox vaccinations were shown to be effective against the disease around 85 percent.

David Evans, University of Alberta virologist, said, “As long the public health professionals jump on this, get out there, and track down all these people, I think it’s possible to stop this pretty quickly.”