- Reuters reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to make monkeypox infection a nationally notifiable condition.
- The disease has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.
- Related: Monkeypox Emergency Could Last Months, According To Experts.
- The CDC said that the designation would be effective from next month and update the criteria for reporting data on cases by states to the agency.
- “Making the condition nationally notifiable positions public health to continue monitoring and responding to monkeypox after the current outbreak recedes,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said.
- Over 3,500 monkeypox cases were reported in the U.S., according to the CDC.
- States must report confirmed or probable monkeypox cases within 24 hours. The CDC asked for data to be shared even before a case investigation was completed.
- State health departments are currently not required to provide the federal government with standardized data on monkeypox.
- However, declaring monkeypox a nationally notifiable condition offers health officials only a glimpse. This would not let them know, for example, how many people have been vaccinated, Politico noted.
- Politico also noted that the FDA cleared an additional facility in Denmark to finish manufacturing monkeypox vaccines, allowing more doses to be distributed and administered.
- Photo via CDC
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