Biden: “Everybody should be concerned” with monkeypox

President Joe Biden raised the alarm Sunday about monkeypox, a viral infection fast spreading around the world, and warned that the disease — which can be spread as easily as through handling a contaminated object — is something “that everybody should be concerned about.”

Monkeypox, rarely seen outside Africa, has been found in recent weeks in Europe and the United States.

As of Saturday, 92 cases and 28 suspected cases had been identified in 12 countries outside of those African nations where it is endemic, according to the World Health Organization. There has been one confirmed case in the United States — a man in Boston was diagnosed last week — but public health officials believe case numbers will soon increase.

Although only occasionally fatal, the speed at which the monkeypox virus is spreading has raised fears of another pandemic that would further strain health systems stretched thin by COVID-19.

“They haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” Biden said at Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he met with U.S. troops before flying to Japan during his first official visit to Asia as president. “We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine may be available.”

He added, “But it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is “no proven, safe treatment” for monkeypox, but the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of smallpox vaccines and antiviral treatments to help control outbreaks.

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said later Sunday that the United States had the resources, including the smallpox vaccines, to keep the virus at bay.

“I am confident we’re going to be able to keep our arms around it,” Jha said on ABC’S “This Week.”

Two smallpox vaccines are approved for use in the United States, and they are generally effective at preventing monkeypox infection as well. The U.S. has stockpiled millions of doses for use in a possible outbreak.