Biden says monkeypox cases are something 'everybody should be concerned about'

• President Biden said the monkeypox outbreak is "a concern" in his first public comments about the disease.
• He said the spread of the disease could be "consequential" in comments to reporters on Sunday.

President Joe Biden said the detection of monkeypox in the United States is "something that everybody should be concerned about."

He made remarks to reporters on Sunday in his first public comments about the disease that has been detected in Europe, the United States, and Australia.

A rare disease, monkeypox is usually found in Central and West Africa and is detected among those who have traveled there. The first known case of the current monkeypox outbreak was detected in the United Kingdom on May 7 in a person that had traveled to Nigeria.

"It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential," the president told reporters at Osan Air Base in South Korea, per The Associated Press.

"They haven't told me the level of exposure yet but it is something that everybody should be concerned about," he added.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US has a supply of "vaccine that is relevant to treating monkeypox" that can be deployed.