SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Monday to deal with an outbreak of monkeypox, making the state the third in four days to ramp up its public health response to the fast-spreading disease.
The declaration followed similar actions by New York on Friday and Illinois on Monday, as well as the city of San Francisco on Thursday. Mayor Eric Adams of New York also declared a local state of emergency on Monday.
“California is working urgently at all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, using our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure those most at risk are our focus for vaccines , treatment and coverage,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with the federal government to provide more vaccines, raise awareness to reduce risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community in the fight against stigma,” he added.
The moves to help streamline and coordinate the monkeypox response between different levels of government come amid a surge in infections as well as growing complaints about the public health response.
What you need to know about the monkeypox virus
What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a virus similar to smallpox, but the symptoms are milder. It was discovered in 1958 after an outbreak in monkeys kept for research. The virus was found mostly in parts of central and west Africa, but in recent weeks it has spread to dozens of countries and infected tens of thousands of people, mostly men who have sex with men. On July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global emergency.
Nearly 6,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported nationally since May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with nearly half of those reported in California, Illinois and New York. The World Health Organization has already declared the virus a global emergency.
No deaths have been reported in the United States so far, and monkeypox is rarely fatal, but the rash caused by the virus has caused severe pain in some patients. The virus is spread primarily through prolonged physical contact, but it can also be transmitted through shared underwear and clothing, health officials say.
Men who have sex with men account for about 99 percent of confirmed cases so far. Public health officials stress that the virus can spread to anyone who has prolonged skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the rash.
The number of cases in the US is among the highest in the world, and health officials say the figure is almost certainly an underestimate.
Federal health officials say they have not yet declared a national public health emergency, in part because monkeypox is a known disease with tests, vaccines and treatments available.
But as the virus spread and scientists gathered research, the emerging picture was somewhat more complex than in past outbreaks, and pressure for more aggressive measures intensified.
Last week, President Biden’s health secretary called on states and municipalities to take more initiative, noting that most public health authority in the United States is concentrated at the local level.
“We don’t control public health in the 50 states, territories and tribal jurisdictions,” Xavier Becerra, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said in response to a reporter’s question about whether the virus could be eliminated. “We rely on our partnership to work with them. They have to work with us.”
California’s emergency declaration will allow emergency medical workers to administer federally approved monkeypox vaccines.
Gov. Cathy Hochul of New York issued an emergency declaration on Friday, saying the move would pressure federal health officials to send additional monkeypox vaccines to the state. On Monday, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois followed suit, calling monkeypox “a rare but potentially serious disease that requires the full mobilization of all available public health resources.”
Mr. Pritzker added that the effort will “ensure that our LGBTQ+ community has the resources they need to stay safe, while ensuring that members are not stigmatized as they access critical health care.”