Health

(NEW YORK) — The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of monkeypox to be a public health emergency of international concern.

“The global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva Saturday.

At the virtual press conference, Ghebreyesus also said that the outbreak has spread around the world “rapidly” and that officials understand “too little” about the disease.

Ghebreyesus also outlined a set of recommendations for countries that have not yet reported a case of monkeypox or have not reported a case for 21 days; those with recently imported cases of monkeypox that are experiencing human-to-human transmission; those with transmission of monkeypox between animals and humans; and those with manufacturing capacities for diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.

This is the seventh event declared a PHEIC by the global health agency since 2007.

The other six include the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009; the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2013 to 2015; the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2020; the Zika outbreak in 2016; the ongoing spread of poliovirus that started in 2014; and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Library of Medicine.

More than 14,000 monkeypox cases have now been detected across the globe in more than 70 countries and territories, according to the WHO. Thus far, five deaths have been reported, all of which have occurred in Africa.

In the United States, more than 2,300 cases are confirmed or suspected in states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In New York, a total of 679 cases of monkeypox have now been confirmed, with the vast majority of them — 94% — detected in New York City, state officials said on Wednesday.

“I would like you to all understand that we anticipate an increase in cases in the coming weeks,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing last week, noting that with increased testing, an improved reporting system for states, and the continued spread of disease, more cases will be identified. “We know monkeypox symptoms usually start within three weeks of exposure to the virus, so we anticipate we may see an increase in cases throughout the month of July and into August.”

Prior to the outbreak, most cases occurred in countries where the virus is endemic — typically central and western Africa.

Monkeypox is generally a mild illness with the most common symptoms being fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. Patients can develop a rash and lesions that often begin on the face before spreading to the rest of the body.

People are typically infected by animals through a bite or a scratch or through preparation and consumption of contaminated bush meat.

However, in the current outbreak, most of the spread has come from coming into contact with infected people’s lesions or bodily fluids, making it less transmissible than other viruses such as COVID-19.

Many cases have been reported among men who identify as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, but there is currently no evidence monkeypox is a sexually transmitted infection — and experts have emphasized anyone can be infected.

In an effort to combat the spread of the disease, health officials are working to ramp up distribution of monkeypox vaccines.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has ordered another 2.5 million doses of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine, amidst increased demand for the shots. The department’s latest order is in addition to its July 1 order of 2.5 million doses, which will begin arriving over the next year. The federal government expects to have an available supply of 7 million doses by mid-2023.

“I want to acknowledge that at this time the demand for vaccines from jurisdictions is higher than our current available supply, and we know that this is frustrating,” Walensky said last week.

Teams are “actively working” to strategically increase supply to get the vaccines to “those who need it most,” Walenksy noted.

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha, also acknowledged this week that the need for additional monkeypox vaccine doses is paramount.

“We got to keep going and we got to keep doing more,” Jha added. “In the days and weeks ahead, you’re gonna just see more and more.”

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(ATLANTA) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has confirmed the first cases of monkeypox in children, federal officials said Friday.

The two cases are unrelated and were likely the result of household transmission, federal officials confirmed to ABC News.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky first disclosed the cases in an interview with Washington Post Live.

The pediatric cases were traced to individuals in the men who have sex with men community, Walensky said, noting that the children “are doing well.”

One of the cases is in a toddler who is a resident of California and the other is an infant who is a non-U.S. resident, officials said.

The infant was “transiting through” Washington, D.C. when the test was done, Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of the High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, told reporters on a press call Friday.

Both children have monkeypox symptoms, but officials said that they are currently in good health and are receiving TPOXX, a Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for smallpox that has been made available for children under special expanded access protocols.

The agency became aware of the cases this week, McQuiston said. The CDC is not identifying the country the infant is from at this time, but health officials there are aware of the case, she said.

“We’ve been working with the jurisdictions to understand more about these cases,” McQuiston said. “The investigations are still in the early phase and ongoing so we don’t have a lot of details on them.”

As of Friday, more than 2,800 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the U.S. across 44 states, as well as Puerto Rico, according to CDC data.

Nearly all cases — 99% — have been reported among individuals who identify as gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, McQuiston said Friday.

“The primary drivers for this infection in the U.S. remain in the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men communities right now,” McQuiston said. “But we need to continue watching this and we stand ready to keep surveillance up and respond.”

The median age for cases was 36, with cases ranging from the infant to over 70, McQuiston said.

Walensky said there have been challenges in obtaining real-time data on monkeypox data, including demographics on race, ethnicity and age of cases and vaccinations.

“We very much want to get as much information as informed decisions out to the American public as possible,” she said in her Washington Post Live interview.

Monkeypox can spread through direct contact with an infectious rash, scab or bodily fluids or via respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact, according to the CDC.

It generally is a mild illness with the most common symptoms being fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches.

Children under 8 years of age are among those considered at “especially increased risk for severe outcomes” from the disease, the CDC said.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — When the New York State Department of Health announced a patient in Rockland County — north of New York City — had contracted polio, they revealed it was a case of vaccine-derived polio.

Vaccine-derived poliovirus is different than poliovirus that originated in the wild which spreads naturally among a community.

The NYSDOH said in a release that testing, performed by the department’s public health laboratory and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed the patient was infected with polio Sabin type 2 virus, indicating he or she was infected by someone who received the oral polio vaccine, which is no longer used in the United States.

Here’s what to know about vaccine-derived polio and how it differs from wild polio.

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is highly contagious and spreads via person-to-person contact even when the original contagious patient doesn’t show symptoms.

According to the CDC, about one in four people exhibit flu-like symptoms such as fever, fatigue and a headache, which clear up within a week. But in rare cases, polio can lead to paralysis and death.

People can be protected against polio from two types of vaccines: an inactivated poliovirus vaccine given by injection and an oral polio vaccine containing a weakened version of the virus and given by mouth.

The oral polio vaccine played a massive role in the eradication of polio because it is cheaper and easier to administer than the injected vaccine, making it suitable for distribution, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

“It’s a live attenuated virus,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “It’s a weakened virus that provides really good immunity in the gut, where the virus replicates, and it sheds in stool, which can spread through sewage and help protect the community.”

However, a potential, adverse effect of the oral vaccine is vaccine-derived poliovirus.

In rare cases, the virus spreading through sewage can affect those who are unvaccinated. This is different from wild polio, which infects people by circulating naturally in the environment.

Due to this risk, the oral vaccine was discontinued in the U.S. in 2000. New York health officials said the virus in the Rockland County patient likely originated in a country outside the U.S., where the oral vaccine is still given.

The NYSDOH said Friday that only 61% of Rockland County residents have been vaccinated against polio by age 2 compared to a 79% rate statewide, excluding New York City.

“There’s likely transmission going on in the community and in an under-vaccinated community like the one in New York, it creates a susceptibility,” Brownstein said. “But in those who are vaccinated, there’s really no risk.”

The New York case is not the first time that vaccine-derived polio has been detected in the U.S.

In 2005, it was found in the stool of a Minnesota child who was unvaccinated and immunocompromised, and likely caught from someone who received the oral vaccine in another country, according to the CDC. Seven other children subsequently contracted polio but none ended up paralyzed.

In 2013, an infant who was severely immunocompromised received the oral vaccine in India. The baby ended up contracting polio and dying from the infection, the CDC said.

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(NEW YORK) — Amid growing concerns over highly contagious omicron subvariants that are spreading around the country, Americans are set to have one more COVID-19 vaccine from which to choose.

Earlier this week, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for those 18 years and older, making it the fourth COVID-19 vaccine now available to the American public.

“We now have four safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines available to protect Americans against serious illness, hospitalizations, and death,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday. “…more people need to roll up their sleeves, particularly as we confront BA.5,” he added, referring to the highly contagious subvariant.

With a resurgence of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations — including news Biden tested positive for the virus — there has been a renewed push to get people vaccinated against COVID-19, particularly those who have yet to receive their first shot, leaving many people vulnerable to severe disease and even death.

“If you have been waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine built on a different technology than those previously available, now is the time to join the millions of Americans who have been vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement on Tuesday, following the agency’s recommendation of Novavax’s vaccine. “With COVID-19 cases on the rise again across parts of the country, vaccination is critical to help protect against the complications of severe COVID-19 disease.”

Nationally, there are still more than 26.3 million American adults who remain completely unvaccinated.

With the currently available vaccines, the unvaccinated ages 5 years and older are 2.8 times more likely to test positive, and six times more likely to die, compared to the fully vaccinated, according to federal data.

Millions still unvaccinated

A number of health experts have expressed their hope that some of the individuals, who are still hesitant, may be more inclined to get the Novavax vaccine because it is based on a more traditional protein-based technology, one already used for the flu vaccine and other shots, while Pfizer and Moderna vaccine platforms tapped a new genetic technology — with messenger RNA — to produce their vaccines.

Since December of 2020, more than 205 million Americans have now received a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, according to federal data, which health experts stress have also proven to be safe and effective and protecting Americans against severe forms of COVID-19.

“I think it’s an important advance. It’s actually giving proteins as vaccines as ‘tried and true’ in the sense that hepatitis and a variety of vaccines use that similar technology,” Novavax President and CEO Stanley Erck told ABC News last week, following the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the vaccine.

Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston said that although initial indicators suggest there may be low demand for the shots, even a sole person getting the Novavax vaccine could protect someone from severe outcomes of COVID-19.

“Every single person vaccinated is a potential life saved. In my mind there is no downside, only upside,” Doron said.

Data presented to CDC advisers this week showed that the vaccine was 90% effective against overall mild, moderate, and severe disease, and 100% effective against severe disease alone. However, the data was collected at the time when the Alpha variant was dominant, thus prior to the emergence of the omicron variant, which has been shown to chip away at vaccine efficacy. But the company announced on Tuesday that it had signed agreements with its partner, SK bioscience, for the creation of the company’s vaccine that would be designed to target the omicron variant.

Some prior concerns were raised by the CDC and FDA advisers, as preliminary data, reported by the company during presentations, indicated that some cases of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation that can occur following vaccination, had been discovered after some trial participants received the Novavax series.

The rare cases of myocarditis have also been found to occur in people, most commonly in young men, who receive the other authorized COVID-19 vaccines, such as the Moderna and Pfizer. However, the occurrences have not been deemed serious enough to stop use of the vaccines in adults.

Ultimately, both groups of advisers unanimously voted to recommend the Novavax vaccine for use.

Some skepticism

Although many lauded the positive data presented by Novavax, some other experts said they are still skeptical that that the introduction of the new vaccine will truly make a difference in the overall fight against COVID-19.

“Despite impressive clinical trial results and a more traditional technology, it’s hard to imagine that Novavax will make much of a dent in vaccination coverage,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D. an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

“While there is some hope that those who have waited this long may change their minds, widespread infection among the unvaccinated and hope for a more well-matched vaccine may continue to prolong those holding out,” he added.

There has not been a significant bump in the number of people receiving a first COVID-19 dose since November 2021. Since then, the average number has steadily fallen to around 50,000 first shots, administered among all age groups, each day.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Biden administration had secured 3.2 million doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, which will be made available for free to U.S. states and jurisdictions.

The two-dose vaccine, which is given three weeks apart, is expected to be made available in the coming weeks, according to the CDC, although the agency noted in a planning document that a “limited number of doses of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed and not all providers are expected to carry Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.”

Ordering is tentatively expected to open the week of July 25, though it is still unclear when the first deliveries will arrive, and Novavax said on Tuesday that it expects to ship doses to the U.S. Government-designated distribution center in the coming days.

“This vaccine is likely to fill in the gap left as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is sunsetted,” Brownstein explained

In May, the FDA announced that it now limiting authorized use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after conducting an updated investigation into reports of rare blood clots. Use is limited to people ages 18 and older for whom other authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines are not “accessible or clinically appropriate,” and to adults who choose to receive the vaccine or else they would not get vaccinated, the FDA wrote at the time.

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(WASHINGTON) — The first case of polio reported in the U.S. in nearly a decade was detected in New York state, health officials said Thursday.

The case is in a resident of Rockland County, the state health department said.

State health officials said sequencing determined that the newly detected case is an instance of vaccine-derived polio. The oral polio vaccine contains a weakened version of the polio virus that can be excreted in stool and transmitted.

That vaccine has not been administered in the U.S. since 2000, suggesting that the virus may have originated somewhere outside the U.S., health officials said.

The Rockland County polio patient is a young adult whose symptoms began a month ago, according to public health officials in Rockland County. The person is no longer contagious but has suffered some paralysis. It is unknown whether that will be permanent.

The infected person contracted polio through exposure to someone who was inoculated with the oral vaccine. The patient did not travel outside of the country, so the exposure was here, said health officials, who are now investigating whether there are any close contacts of the patient who are at risk. There are no other suspected cases at this time.

Health officials urged those who are unvaccinated, and parents of unvaccinated children, to seek polio vaccination now.

“The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said in a statement.

Rockland County will host vaccine clinics on Friday and Monday, the health department said.

The last known case in the U.S. was recorded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013, which was also an instance of vaccine-derived polio. The last “wild” case of polio was detected in the U.S. in 1979.

The U.S. uses the inactivated polio vaccine, which cannot cause infection.

Being vaccinated against polio protects people against both vaccine-derived and “wild” polio.

Polio is a very contagious, potentially fatal, virus that can be spread even when an infected person has no symptoms.

Symptoms, which include fatigue, fever, headache, stiffness, muscle pain and vomiting, can take up to 30 days to appear. In rare cases, polio can cause paralysis or death.

“Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, this disease struck fear in families, including my own,” Rockland County Executive Ed Day said in a statement. “The fact that it is still around decades after the vaccine was created shows you just how relentless it is. Do the right thing for your child and the greater good of your community and have your child vaccinated now.”

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(BATON ROUGE, La.) — Louisiana’s attorney general said he wants cities that don’t enforce the state’s abortion laws to have their funding withheld.

Louisiana was one of several states that had a trigger law banning abortion that would immediately go into effect upon the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which occurred June 24.

A​​ temporary order blocking enforcement of the ban was issued June 27 and has since been extended several times, with a state judge expected to hear arguments Tuesday.

However, several state officials have said if the order is lifted and the ban goes into effect, they will not enforce or prosecute offenders.

Earlier this month, the New Orleans City Council — with the support of Mayor LaToya Cantrell — passed a resolution that prohibits public funds or resources from being used by local law enforcement to enforce the trigger ban.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said his office will not prosecute abortion providers. Additionally, the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said they will not arrest or investigate providers.

In response, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry called upon the state treasurer and his fellow members of the Bond Commission to delay any applications and funding for New Orleans and Orleans Parish until officials agree to enforce the ban.

“As Attorney General and member of the Bond Commission, it is my belief that a parish or municipality should not benefit from the hard-working taxpayers of this State while ignoring laws validly enacted by the people through their representatives,” he said in a statement. “I urge the Bond Commission to defer any applications for the City of New Orleans, Orleans Parish, and any local governmental entity or political subdivision under its purview.”

The statement continued, “In addition, any other funding that will directly benefit the City of New Orleans should also be paused until such time as the Council, Mayor, Chief of Police, Sheriff, and District Attorney have met with and affirmed that they will comply with and enforce the laws of this State and cooperate with any State officials who may be called upon to enforce them.”

“The Attorney General’s hostility towards reproductive freedom comes as no surprise. However, what is surprising and troubling, is that the Attorney General would place critical infrastructure and state assets in harm’s way just to score political points for his run for Governor,” said Cantrell in response to the statement.

This is not the first time Landry has made headlines for his desire to strictly enforce the state’s abortion ban despite the order blocking it.

Last month, Landry threatened the licenses of medical providers who continue to provide abortions while the ban is blocked in a letter to the Louisiana State Medical Society.

“The temporary restraining order does not — and cannot — immunize medical providers from liability from criminal conduct,” he wrote. “It is incumbent on this office to advise you that any medial provider who would perform or has performed an elective abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision … is jeopardizing his or her liberty and medical license.”

The decision by officials to not enforce abortion laws reflects moves seen in other cities in states with restrictive laws. The Austin City Council passed a measure Thursday that decriminalizes abortion within city limits even though it is effectively banned in Texas.

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(WASHINGTON) — The first case of polio reported in the U.S. in nearly a decade was detected in New York state, health officials said Thursday.

The case is in a resident of Rockland County, the state health department said.

The last known case in the U.S. was recorded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — When White House officials announced President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, they revealed he was prescribed Paxlovid.

Here’s what to know about the COVID-19 treatment:

Paxlovid is an at-home antiviral therapy developed by Pfizer, which was authorized under emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for those aged 12 and older at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 in December 2021.

High-risk patients included those with underlying medical conditions, and those who are older or unvaccinated.

Clinical trial data showed Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms by nearly 90%.

Paxlovid was hailed a game-changer because it was the first COVID-19 treatment that did not require an infusion, making it more convenient to give to patients.

The treatment is made up of two medications: ritonavir, commonly used to treat HIV and AIDS, but helps boost levels of other antiviral medications, and nirmatrelvir, an antiviral that works to inhibit an enzyme the virus uses to make copies of itself. Together, these drugs work to prevent the spread of the virus throughout the body.

Patients take three pills — two nirmatrelvir pills and one ritonavir pill — twice daily over the course of five days and it requires a prescription.

Side effects are rare but include an altered sense of taste, nausea, diarrhea, muscle aches and abdominal pain.

Doctors have said Paxlovid is most effective when given as soon after a diagnosis of COVID-19 as possible. Taking it later during the course of the illness may result in the drug not being as effective.

Paxlovid is not meant to be taken as a prophylactic after exposure to COVID-19 or if a patient is already hospitalized.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory, warning doctors to be on the lookout for a rare, but increasingly reported phenomenon known as “COVID-19 rebound.”

COVID-19 rebound has typically been reported to occur among patients who took Paxlovid between two and eight days after recovery. Patients either experience a recurrence of COVID-19 symptoms or test positive after having tested negative.

“Limited information currently available from case reports suggests that persons treated with Paxlovid who experience COVID-19 rebound have had mild illness; there are no reports of severe disease,” the CDC wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — Students over the age of 12 will be required to receive COVID-19 vaccines this fall in Washington, D.C., the district’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education has announced.

“We want to make sure that all of our students have everything they need for a healthy start to the school year,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Christina Grant said in a statement on Tuesday. “This means making sure children see their primary medical provider for a well-child visit and receive all needed immunizations.”

Beginning this fall, for the 2022-23 school year, student vaccine requirements will include the COVID-19 vaccine for all students for whom there is a federally, fully approved COVID-19 vaccine.

Unless exempted, children ages 12 to 15 will be required to receive a primary COVID-19 vaccine series, or to have started receiving their shots by Sept. 16, 2022. Similarly, all students 16 or older must have received, or have started receiving, their primary COVID-19 vaccination series by the beginning of the school year.

Students attending all Washington, D.C., schools, including private, parochial and independent schools, need to be up-to-date with all required vaccinations in order to attend school. Schools are also mandated to confirm vaccination for all students, according to district law.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been fully approved by the FDA for all people 16 years and older since August 2021, and just this month, Pfizer’s vaccine was also fully approved for adolescents ages 12 to 15.

As of July 13, 80% of district residents ages 12 to 15; 76% of residents ages 16 and 17, and 52% of residents ages 18 to 24, have been fully vaccinated with their primary series, according to district data.

The department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ inquiry regarding what type of exemptions would be allowed, or whether remote options may be offered to students who do not comply with the requirement.

Across the country, in California, officials announced last fall that they would implement a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students.

“The state already requires that students are vaccinated against viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella — there’s no reason why we wouldn’t do the same for COVID-19,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement in October. “Today’s measure, just like our first-in-the-nation school masking and staff vaccination requirements, is about protecting our children and school staff, and keeping them in the classroom.”

However, in April, the state announced that it would not initiate the regulatory process for its COVID-19 vaccine requirement in schools until after July 1, 2023, to “ensure sufficient time for successful implementation of new vaccine requirements.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Protesters in several cities across the country are calling on the Biden administration, as well as local officials, to address the rapid rise in monkeypox cases.

Demonstrators, including many LGBTQ activists, say officials have yet to provide the necessary outreach to vulnerable populations as issues continue to plague the vaccine rollout.

A protest is being planned for Thursday by several organizations in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Nearly 60% of those diagnosed with monkeypox in New York City have self-identified as members of the LGBTQ community, according to the New York City Department of Health.

The city has seen more than 600 cases so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 20, there have been over 2,100 confirmed cases in the U.S. with numbers quickly rising, the CDC says.

Federal and state agencies have been scrambling to supply enough vaccines and treatments for monkeypox as demand grows by the tens of thousands.

Groups, including HIV/AIDs awareness and advocacy organizations Housing Works and ACT UP New York, said they have a list of requests for both state and federal governments.

“There is a shame involved in this,” said Mordechai Levovitz, an organizer of the Thursday protest and clinical director of LGBTQ Jewish youth group JQY. “There is a taboo. This is something that, for people who had [rashes and lesions] on their face, something that they can’t hide.”

On the state level, the group is demanding an expansion of vaccine appointment availability; meaningful community outreach; a stockpile of vaccines; a safety net fund for people who test positive and have to take off of work; as well as providing hotel rooms for quarantining.

On the federal level, protestors are calling for large-scale information campaigns about monkeypox testing from the CDC, and free and accessible testing for un- and underinsured individuals, as well as for the government to provide a demographic breakdown of infected populations.

“The federal government must invest in communication about monkeypox testing, treatment, and vaccine availability now,” according to a statement from Act Up New York.

It continued, “We need meaningful outreach to all communities including vulnerable populations, streamlined communication efforts, mass testing implementation, expedited FDA approval of TPOXX (MPX treatment), and a public plan for the US government to take action on the Bavarian Nordic stockpile (15.2 million vaccines).”

In a press conference Wednesday, New York Department of Health officials said they are working with advocates and activists on outreach efforts.

“We’ve been developing clinical guidance, expanding test capacity – initially from our public health labs, and now to commercial labs – partnering with the federal government, as the Governor has said, and revitalizing our network of local health departments,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett.

She continued, “We’re doing all of this with real attention to the importance of dignity and respect, without stigma, and with equity always at the center of our work.”

The CDC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

Protests have also taken place in San Francisco where cases are rising. The San Francisco Department of Public Health reported 55 monkeypox cases on July 19 alone, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 141.

LGBTQ groups have been on high alert regarding the rapid spread of cases, saying that the messaging around the circumstances of infection has not been adequately communicated to at-risk communities.

Though demographic data is not yet available for cases across the U.S., nearly 60% of people infected in New York City self-reported as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, though demographic data on sexual orientation was unavailable for 39.6% of the cases. Two individuals — 0.6% of cases — reported that they identify as straight.

At least 34% of those infected in Europe identified as gay or bisexual, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

However, the sexual orientation of 65% of the infected people is unknown or missing in the data, the European agency said.

Officials have emphasized that gay and bisexual men, in particular, are at risk here in the U.S., though they stress that anyone can contract the illness.

The CDC says monkeypox can spread, among other ways, through through direct contact with an infectious rash, scab or bodily fluids or via respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact.

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