As monkeypox virus continues to spread across the United States, several states are taking action to protect both the general public and health care personnel from infection.
New York Commissioner of Health Mary Bassett, MD, MPH, declared monkeypox an imminent threat to public health on July 28. More than 100,000 monkeypox vaccines will be available in New York in the coming weeks.
Illinois released a monkeypox suspect case checklist to instruct health care providers about the necessary precautions they should take prior to seeing suspected monkeypox patients.
California Health and Human Services Agency expressed that a limited vaccine supply is an ongoing issue in the state, which currently accounts for 14 percent of the nation’s cases. California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Mark Ghaly, MD, MPH, and California Department of Public Health Director and State Public Health Officer Tomás Aragón, MD, DrPH have requested at least 600,000-800,000 additional vaccines to ensure protection for those most at risk.
Texas Department of State Health Services has implemented enhanced surveillance measures to identify cases in the state, including providing public health agencies and clinicians with education and outreach tools, evaluating those with suspected cases, and monitoring contacts of confirmed cases for symptom development.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
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