BOSTON (WHDH) - There are now 18 new cases of monkeypox in Massachusetts, bringing the total to 49 cases, according to state officials.
Patients who have monkeypox are isolating and state officials are working to identify close contacts.
This comes as monkeypox case numbers continue to rise across the country.
“They were, at worst, on more sensitive skin, excruciatingly painful,” said Matt Ford, describing the painful lesions he got from the disease.
Between Wednesday and Thursday night, the cases in the U.S. jumped 40%. Officials said the number is likely even higher.
“We should be, and will be, testing literally ten times the amount of people that we were testing prior,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
It’s unclear if the jump in cases is from increased testing, delayed reporting or another factor.
Vaccinations could help end the outbreak with many preventing both monkeypox and smallpox, but the U.S. stopped vaccinating against smallpox after it was deemed eradicated more than 40 years ago. This renders shots in short supply.
“We got an allotment of 200 vaccines, and the appointments for that went in about an hour and a half,” said Fulton County, Georgia Board of Health Chief Clinical Officer David Holland.
The U.S. is importing more vaccines from Denmark. Certain high-risk groups will get priority access to the shots.
“Hundreds of thousands (of doses) reaching to about one million that will be available relatively soon,” said Dr. Fauci.
Worldwide cases are also increasing rapidly, reaching more than 11,000.
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