Monday 1 August 2022 05:36 PM Monkeypox could become endemic in 'the worst public health failure in modern ... trends now
Monkeypox becoming endemic in the U.S. would be the 'worst public health failure in modern times' because it could have been prevented, an ex-Food and Drug Administration director has said.
Writing in an op-ed over the weekend, Dr Scott Gottlieb pointed out that — unlike when Covid first emerged — there were already reliable vaccines and tests available to stop the disease in its tracks.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed to act rapidly, instead following the same 'protracted checklist' and making many of the same mistakes as when Covid struck.
He wrote in the New York Times that should the disease gain a foothold it would be a disaster both because it could have been prevented and as infections — which spark blisters across body — are painful. Many sufferers have said their symptoms were 'worse than Covid'.
Last month Gottlieb predicted the tally of cases — then 1,800 — were just a fraction of the actual number. Since then it has risen to more than 5,000 with the CDC now detecting about 250 new infections per day.
It is the second time Gottlieb has spoken out over the CDC response. Previously, he warned the slow pace left a risk of the virus becoming endemic in the country
Writing in the op-ed, Gottlieb said: 'If monkeypox gains a permanent foothold in the United States and becomes an endemic virus that joins our circulating repertoire of pathogens, it will be one of the worst public health failures in modern times.
'Not only because of the pain and peril of the disease, but also because it was so avoidable.'
