Globally, early evidence suggests that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men account for a large number of cases of monkeypox. CDC continues to provide guidance and awareness to frontline health care providers and public health. CDC is also raising public awareness of the current situation through its website and social media, in addition to direct communication with partners and the community. In June, the CDC updated and expanded the definition of monkeypox outbreaks and continues to encourage health care providers to consider testing all rashes with clinical suspicion of monkeypox. Healthcare providers who see a patient with a rash that resembles monkeypox or may be more typical of more common infections (eg, varicella zoster, herpes zoster, or syphilis) should carefully evaluate the patient for smallpox and they should consider consideration. Anyone with risk factors for monkeypox and a new rash should seek care and testing. Last week, the CDC began shipping orthopoxvirus tests to five commercial laboratory companies, including the nation’s largest reference laboratories, to rapidly increase monkeypox testing capacity and access in each community. This development will facilitate increased testing, leverage established relationships between clinics, hospitals, and commercial laboratories, and support our ability to better understand the scope of the current monkeypox outbreak. Visit the CDC website, which is updated daily, for the latest information on our response. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
