Nine cases of monkeypox reported in the United States

On Wednesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported that nine cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States.

The seven states where infected people are found are California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

It should be noted that Walensky stated that all those infected "are homosexual, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men"; but, in addition, he asked that the approach be “guided by science, not by stigma”, that people “address this outbreak without stigmatization and without discrimination”.

“While some groups may have a higher chance of exposure right now to infectious diseases, they don't care about state or international borders. They are not contained within social networks and the risk of exposure is not limited to any particular group, "added the doctor.

In the same way, he assured that several of the reported cases have traveled to areas where there are active outbreaks of monkeypox, however, others have not. In addition, he reported that the samples have already been sent to the CDC for other tests, including genomics, to discover how each of the nine patients contracted the virus.

For his part, Dr. Raj Panjabi, Senior Director of the White House for Health Security and Biodefense, regarding the work of the CDC to encourage other doctors and citizens to be aware of symptoms, said that:

“It should come as no surprise that more cases will be reported in the US in the coming days. It's actually a sign that Americans are staying vigilant, and health care providers and public health workers are doing their job."

At the moment, it is known that the monkeypox virus has a structure similar to that of smallpox, but is milder. Its symptoms are fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, back pain, extreme fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. After three days from the moment when he developed a fever, a rash appears.