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Monkeypox elimination unlikely in US: CDC report

The CDC, in its report, said that even though the disease's spread is slowing but the virus is so widespread that elimination is not likely.

TN World Desk

Updated Oct 1, 2022, 13:08 IST

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Washington: Amidst the Monkeypox scare, a new Center for Disease Control (CDC) report has now stated that the elimination of the virus is highly unlikely in the US. The CDC, in its report, said that even though the disease's spread is slowing but the virus is so widespread that elimination is not likely.

The said CDC report was echoed on Friday by Marc Lipsitch, director of science in the agency's disease-forecasting centre. Lipsitch noted that the chances that the Monkeypox disease will remain a continuing threat for the next few years are fairly high. "It's in many geographic locations within the country as well as in other countries. There's no clear path in our mind to complete elimination domestically," Lipsitch told the Associated Press.

Although the virus has mainly spread among gay and bisexual men, health officials have repeatedly stressed that it can affect anyone. "It's important that people at risk take steps to prevent spread and that vaccination efforts continue," Lipsitch noted.

According to a CDC report, the US outbreak peaked in early August. 'The average number of daily cases being reported fewer than 150 is about a third of what it was reported in the middle of the summer, and officials expect the decline will continue for at least the next several weeks,' the report said.

Lipsitch attributed the reduction to increasing vaccinations, 'cautious behaviour by people at risk and infection-derived immunity in the highest risk populations.'

Notably, more than 67,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in countries that have not historically seen the virus. The US reported the most infections of any country more than 25,600, more than 97 per cent of which were reported in men.

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