Monkeypox Cases Are Down Nationally but Up in Communities of Color
Despite continuing drops in cases in the United States, public health officials are concerned that monkeypox continues to spread in communities of color where vaccination rates are low.The number of new MPV cases has dropped by nearly half since early August, according to White House MPV response coordinator Bob Fenton.Vaccinations and education efforts contributed to the decrease in new cases, Biden administration officials said during a briefing with the media on Thursday.
Nearly 11,000 vaccination doses were administered in a pilot program targeting large Pride events across the country."In places like Atlanta, where we've worked closely with the public health community to surge vaccines and information around events like Black Pride, the rate of new cases has steadily declined," Fenton said. "In D.C., the new cases have declined 20 percent, on average, per week since they peaked in mid-July."As of September 14, there were close to 23,000 MPV cases in the United States, out of more than 59,600 detected worldwide in 103 countries, according to Dr.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In spite of the decline in new cases, Walensky said, "we have also seen the racial and ethnic makeup of this outbreak evolve" over the past several weeks.Deputy coordinator for the White House MPV response Dr.
