The Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS) declared the nation's monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency Thursday afternoon, after the U.S. infection tally hit 6,600.
Its Secretary Xavier Becerra made the declaration during a press conference, saying he was prepared to take America's response to the virus 'to the next level'.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, explained that means that this could increase available resources to local officials around the country, enhance data collection of cases, testing and hospitalizations related to the virus, and allow for federal officials to deploy personnel across the nation to assist local physicians.
New York, California and Illinois have all already declared public health emergencies over the outbreak. The World Health Organization made the declaration two weeks ago, after the virus was reported in 70 countries where it is not endemic.
America's monkeypox outbreak has surged to be the largest in the world, with a total of 6,600 cases reported in 48 states. No deaths have been registered in the U.S. to date, but there have been four outside Africa including two in Spain.
Almost every case is among gay or bisexual men, but there is 'huge concern' that monkeypox — which is spread via physical contact — could reach more vulnerable groups. At least five cases have been recorded in children so far, who are more at risk of serious disease from the virus.
Federal officials have been slammed for a delayed response to the virus so far, allowing it to potentially spread unrestricted for weeks before expanding access to testing and rolling out vaccines to the population. At current, the country can perform up to 80,000 monkeypox tests each week.
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