Federal health officials are optimistic that the U.S. will be able to eliminate monkeypox as cases decline nationwide, The New York Times reported Sept. 22.
"Our goal is to eradicate; that's what we're working toward," Demetre Daskalakis, MD, deputy coordinator of the White House monkeypox response team, told reporters. "The prediction is, we're going to get very close."
There are 24,846 cases of monkeypox in the U.S. as of Sept. 23, according to data from the CDC.
Five more things to know:
1. Dr. Daskalakis did not provide a timeline, but said he expects infections to get to a point where they're sporadic enough that clinicians can isolate and vaccinate close contacts of the infected, thus ending the outbreak — a process known as ring vaccination.
2. Ring vaccination was used in the global campaign against smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.
3. Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, epidemiology and medicine professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, said "intense efforts" need to be made to reach underserved communities while trying to eradicate the disease.
4. People with chronic skin conditions have reported facing increased harassment and stigma amid the outbreak.
5. The CDC urged clinicians Sept. 19 to adhere to all recommended infection prevention and control measures to reduce the risk of monkeypox virus transmission in healthcare settings.