Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Monday declared monkeypox a public health emergency, classifying the state as a “disaster area” for the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Illinois is the state with the third highest number of reported monkeypox infections at 520. New York has the most reported cases at more than 1,300, followed by California, which has more than 800 reported cases.
More than 5,100 infections have occurred across the country.
Here’s what the governor’s declaration means for Illinoisans and what they need to know as the virus continues to spread across the state in ways experts say they’ve never seen before.
Monkeypox vaccines
With the declaration in place, officials can more easily secure supplies of monkeypox virus (MPV) vaccine and increase distribution to ensure the most affected communities receive treatment as soon as possible, according to a news release from the office of Pritzker.
“The declaration of a state of disaster will allow the Illinois Department of Public Health to expand vaccine and testing capacity with the assistance of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and through state and federal recovery and relief funds,” it said in the message. “This declaration will help ease the complex logistics and transportation of vaccines across the state to efficiently reach the most affected communities.”
According to a July 27 update from the Chicago Department of Public Health, monkeypox vaccine supplies remain very limited, “although they are expected to continue to increase over the next several months as the U.S. acquires additional doses.”
CDPH also noted that “the vaccine is only available from the national stockpile, and federal partners distribute it to states and cities based on population and MPV cases. Chicago received an additional 15,000 doses of the vaccine over the weekend, the city’s largest distribution to date.”
“However,” CDPH continued, “far more people want a vaccine than can get it.”
CDPH says it is prioritizing the vaccine for those at “highest risk,” which includes “any person who has had close physical contact with someone diagnosed with MPV or whose sexual partner has been diagnosed with MPV in the past 14 days “.
The city says a limited number of vaccines are available from some health care providers. and that as vaccine supplies improve, more people will be eligible for the vaccine.
According to public health officials, a full course of vaccine consists of 2 doses given at least 4 weeks apart. It takes about 2 weeks for the first dose to take full effect.
Those at risk
Although doctors said the overall risk to the general public remained low, with transmission most often through close personal or sexual contact — the WHO’s chief expert on monkeypox, Dr Rosamund Lewis, said last week that 99% of all cases of monkeypox outside of Africa were in men, and 98% of them were men who have sex with men – the disease spreads in ways experts have never seen before.
Still, doctors stress that he says the virus doesn’t discriminate.
“MPV is not a ‘gay disease,'” said CDPH Commissioner Dr. Alison Arwadi. “There is nothing inherent in the biology of the virus that limits it to men who have sex with men. The virus spreads through cohesive social networks; does not discriminate.’
According to the Chicago Department of Public Health, “person-to-person transmission is possible through “close physical contact with monkeypox sores, objects that have been contaminated with fluids or sores (clothing, bedding, etc.), or through respiratory droplets after prolonged face-to-face contact.”
Arwadi said most cases “come from much more intimate skin-to-skin contact or a kiss” and noted that most casual contact and everyday activities — including things like shopping in crowded stores, going to a bar or coffee shop, riding crowded trains and CTA buses or using fitness equipment or public restrooms—pose little or no risk of contracting MPV.
According to Dr. Albert Ko, a professor of public health and epidemiology at Yale University, “We are ultimately witnessing a shift in the epidemiology of monkeypox, where there is now widespread, unexpected transmission. There are some genetic mutations in the virus that suggest why this might be happening, but we need a globally coordinated response to bring it under control.”
Symptoms of monkeypox
CDPH says monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that often begins with flu-like symptoms and swollen lymph nodes and progresses to a rash on the face and body, health experts said.
Symptoms of the virus range from fever, aches and rashes all over the body.
“Suspected cases may present with early flu-like symptoms and progress to lesions that may start in one place on the body and spread to other parts,” the CDPH previously stated.
Dr. Irfan Hafeez, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Medicine’s McHenry and Huntley hospitals, said the virus causes symptoms similar to several diseases, including chickenpox or smallpox.
“To the average person, it can look like chicken pox or warts,” he previously said. “But those (wounds) tend to be in exposed areas.”
Health experts also said the disease can be confused with a sexually transmitted infection such as syphilis or herpes, or with the varicella zoster virus.
In the US, some experts speculate whether monkeypox may be on the verge of becoming an established sexually transmitted disease in the country, like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV.
A national response
The Biden administration is considering declaring a nationwide public health emergency in response to the growing epidemic, but has not yet done so. Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID response coordinator, said last week that the administration was exploring how a public health emergency declaration could bolster the U.S. response to the outbreak.
“There is no final decision on this that I know of,” Jha said. “This is an ongoing but very active conversation at HHS.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has the authority to declare a public health emergency under the Public Health Services Act. A declaration can help mobilize federal financial assistance to respond to a disease outbreak.
The World Health Organization last week activated its highest alert level, declaring the virus a public health emergency of international concern.
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