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President Biden on Tuesday announced a team to coordinate and manage the White House’s monkeypox response efforts as the virus spreads to cities and states across the country.
The President has appointed Robert Fenton, Regional Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to serve as the White House National Coordinator for the Monkeypox Response, and Dr. Demetrius Daskalakis to serve as Deputy Coordinator.
“Fenton and Deaskalakis will lead the administration’s strategy and operations to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of testing, vaccinations and treatments,” the White House said Tuesday.
Fenton has twice served as FEMA’s acting administrator and has led “numerous challenging prevention, response and recovery operations” throughout his career.
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Daskalakis, a leading public health expert, is currently director of the Division of HIV Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House said he “is an expert on health issues affecting LGBTQIA+ communities.” Previously, Daskalakis directed infectious disease management for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Test tubes labeled ‘Monkeypox virus’ with positive and negative results are shown in this May 23, 2022 illustration (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
The White House said both officials played “a critical role in making COVID vaccines more accessible to underserved communities and closing the equity gap in vaccination rates among adults.”
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The president’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, added that the team “will allow the Biden administration to further accelerate and strengthen its monkeypox response.”
The two officials are expected to coordinate and manage response efforts across the White House and all federal departments and agencies, as well as work with local, state, national and international stakeholders to “track and combat the spread” of monkeypox.
California, Illinois and New York have declared states of emergency because of monkeypox.
The first case of monkeypox was confirmed in the United States on May 18.
So far, the Biden administration has provided more than 1.1 million doses of vaccine to states and cities across the country to control the spread of the virus, and has expanded testing capacity from 6,000 tests per week to more than 80,000 tests per week.
“Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as the variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox,” the CDC notes on its website.
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The symptoms of monkeypox are milder than the symptoms of smallpox—and monkeypox is rarely fatal.
The virus is not related to chicken pox, the CDC says. Monkeypox was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a smallpox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research.
Monkeypox virus is present in human vesicular fluid. (BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)
Symptoms of monkeypox include headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, fever, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, and chills.
Within one to three days, a rash and lesions may develop, according to the CDC.
The CDC shares many healthy actions each of us can take to limit exposure and transmission of disease.
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Among these tips: Avoid close skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash; do not touch the rash or scabs of anyone who has monkeypox; do not share cutlery, plates or glasses with someone who has the virus; do not touch or touch the bedding, towels or clothing of a person with monkeypox; wash your hands often with soap and water – or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
The CDC recommends that those infected with monkeypox isolate themselves at home, noting that very close personal contact is another reason the virus spreads quickly.
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Anyone with an active rash or other symptoms should “stay in a separate room or area away from people or pets you live with whenever possible,” the CDC notes.
Fox News’ Deirdre Reilly contributed to this report.
Brooke Syngman is a digital policy reporter for Fox News. You can reach her at Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.
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