Monkeypox eradication unlikely in US as virus could spread indefinitely
According to a report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the monkeypox virus is unlikely to be eradicated from the United States in the near future.
According to the CDC, the incidence is declining as vaccine availability has grown, people are more informed of how to prevent infection, and homosexual and bisexual men—the population most affected by the virus—have probably developed stronger antibodies.
The positive news, according to Lipsitch, was due to rising vaccination rates, prudent behaviour by those at risk, and infection-derived immunity in the highest risk populations.
It’s unlikely that monkeypox will cease spreading in the US anytime soon, but Dr. Tom Inglesby, head of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, said it is still conceivable in the long run.
Even if domestic transmission were to cease, he said, the virus might still spread abroad if travellers contracted it. However, the decrease in cases gives the impression that “we’ve really turned a corner.” He declared that the current efforts should be kept up or even stepped up because they were working.
