Rochelle Warrenski, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on June 10 that there have been 45 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the United States so far, doubling from the previous week.
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans as well as human-to-human transmission. Monkeypox symptoms often include fever, severe headache, muscle aches, back pain, lack of energy, swollen lymph nodes, and rash or skin lesions.
According to Warrenski, some monkeypox cases diagnosed in the United States have atypical symptoms, and some cases may have symptoms similar to sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes, leading to misdiagnosis.
"We're seeing some cases that are asymptomatic, sometimes only in certain parts of the body, which is different from the typical symptoms seen in cases in monkeypox-endemic countries in central and western Africa," she said. "This raises concerns that some cases may not have been Diagnosed."
According to the CDC, finding cases is critical to curbing the spread of the monkeypox virus. Warrenski urged doctors and the public to be vigilant.
According to Reuters, the United States has conducted about 300 monkeypox virus tests. Some infectious disease experts say much more testing is still needed to control the spread of the monkeypox virus.
"Right now, there aren't enough monkeypox tests in the U.S.," said Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University.
Warrenski said on the 10th that the CDC is working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Healthcare and Medicaid Services to expand the establishment of monkeypox testing services from public laboratories to commercial laboratories.
Monkeypox is mainly endemic in western and central Africa, but a number of non-monkeypox-endemic countries have recently reported monkeypox cases. About 30 non-monkeypox-endemic countries around the world have reported more than 1,300 cases of monkeypox as of Thursday, most of them in Europe, according to a Reuters tally.
