By Mishayla Young
Andrea McCollum was sitting in a Publix grocery store parking lot in May when she got the text: Four new cases of monkeypox were confirmed in the United Kingdom. Two days later, the first case of monkeypox in the U.S. was reported in Massachusetts.
Since that week, McCollum, who serves as the Poxvirus Epidemiology Team Lead at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), has been focused on tracking and containing the monkeypox outbreak.
“It’s all I think about day and night. I eat, breathe, and sleep monkeypox,” McCollum said.
McCollum presented on the global response effort to monkeypox at the 11th Annual State of the Public Health’s Conference on Thursday, October 27, 2022.
As of October 26, 2022, there were 76,000 cases worldwide in 102 countries.
“The United States has 28,087 confirmed monkeypox cases, charting globally as the largest number of confirmed cases to date,” said McCollum.
There are many misunderstandings regarding the transmission of monkeypox, McCollum said. Many of these cases were individuals who reported prior male-to-male sexual contact, but she said this is only one of many forms of transmission. Animal-to-human is another common way the virus can spread.
The U.S. has two available vaccines: Jynneos and ACAM2200. Both vaccines are derived from approved smallpox vaccines since the viruses are similar.
Amanda Feldpausch, monkeypox response co-lead at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) presented on Georgia’s case rates and response.
“We’ve consistently been one of the top six states by way of case numbers,” said Feldpausch.
According to data provided by DPH, Georgia saw a case surge in August, with more than 60 reported cases in one day. However, daily cases have been on the decline since that time.
“One challenge did come up, and that’s delayed results,” Feldpausch said. “It’s something we face every time with any of these responses at a local level”.
DPH has since committed resources to improve testing and vaccinations, Feldpausch said. The Jynneos vaccination is available in Georgia and can be scheduled through the Vaccine Scheduling Resource Line at (888) 457-0186.
“We will continue to use data to inform improvement equitable access to online scheduling tools, and for accessible vaccine events,” Feldpausch said.
