White House top COVID advisor says monkeypox risk is 'very small,' a day after the WHO declared the virus a global emergency
- The White House's top COVID-19 advisor said that the general population's risk of monkeypox is minimal.
- "The risk to the broader population is very small," Jha said on "Fox News Sunday."
The White House's top COVID-19 advisor said that the risk of catching monkeypox among the general population is minimal, a day after the World Health Organization declared the growing virus outbreak a global public health emergency.
"The risk to the broader population is very small," White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said of the outbreak during an interview on "Fox News Sunday."
Jha added, "We're going to continue to work on making sure we contain it in the populations where it is being transmitted and preventing it from spreading to others as well."
The current monkeypox outbreak has largely affected gay and bisexual men, but the WHO has warned that the virus could spread even further.
"At the moment, cases continue to be reported among men who have sex with men for the most part, but we should not expect that to remain as such," Dr. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at the WHO, told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe" on Monday.
Smallwood continued, "This really might be the canary in the mine that's alerting to us a new disease threat that could spread to other groups."
Disease experts have noted that anyone can be at risk of catching the virus, which typically spreads from person to person through extremely close contact. A trio of virologists cautioned last week against labeling monkeypox as a "gay disease."
According to the latest data by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just over 2,800 monkeypox cases have been confirmed across the country — and Jha noted that no Americans have died of the virus as a result of the current outbreak.
"We have substantially ramped up testing, we have substantially ramped up vaccinations," said Jha, who explained, "We got to keep doing more, by the way. We're not done on that effort. We're going to do more of that in the days and weeks ahead."
Monkeypox can cause flu-like symptoms, including fever and muscle aches, and can prompt puss-filled boils that cover the body.
The World Health Organization declared on Saturday that the global monkeypox outbreak "represents a public health emergency of international concern."
Jha said he was "supportive" of the determination and believes it was the "right call," as cases continue to climb across the globe.
More than 16,800 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries around the world, according to CDC data.
Jha said during the interview on "Fox News Sunday" that no decision has yet been made on whether the US will declare a public health emergency for monkeypox.
"We obviously will continue to assess that on an ongoing basis," he said.