With approximately 605 cases of monkeypox reported across the US, New York holds the record, numbering 119 cases as of Wednesday, according to The New York Post. It is also the first city in the US to reach the 100 cases mark.
New York experienced an abrupt increase of almost 50% compared to the past week, which lead to growing concern about the transmission of the virus. During June, the city hosted various events organized with the occasion of Pride Month, which was attended by an estimated 2 million tourists.
Considering that the monkeypox virus is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, events that involve a high number of people represent a favorable way for the virus to be passed from one person to another, reason for which events such as these are often reported as potential sources for the spread of the virus.
The symptoms of the virus are similar to those of the flu and include fever, head and muscle aches, and chills. At the same time, these can also be accompanied by painful lesions on the skin, that disappear after some time.
Daily Mail reports that health experts did not take the threat of the virus seriously and that they did not roll out enough measures to prevent it from spreading, especially during the crowded events that were organized in June. While a vaccine that prevents the infection with the monkeypox virus exists, only 1000 doses were made available before the events, in a city with a population of 8.3 million people.
However, a correlation between the Pride Month events and the increase in the number of monkeypox cases has not officially been established. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stating that approximately 100 people are tested for the virus every 24 hours, experts say that it’s not enough and that many cases are not actually discovered. This means that the actual number of cases might be way higher than the official reports.