Cases of monkeypox continue to decline in the United States as the outbreak continues to show signs of receding.
As of Oct. 12, the US recorded a seven-day average of 60 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is the lowest average recorded since June 29, which is just when infections began to rise. It’s also lower than the seven-day average of 443 cases recorded in early August, CDC data show.
Trends seen in cities across the country mirror those across the country.
Cases of monkeypox in the United States
CDC
In New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak, the seven-day average has dropped to 2 as of Oct. 11, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This is a sharp decline from the peak of 73 recorded in late July and early August.
Similarly, in Los Angeles, the seven-day average stands at 5 as of the most recent data on Oct. 3, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which is the lowest since from the beginning of July. It’s also a sharp drop from the peak of 41 at the end of August.
Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News that the outbreak has subsided for a few reasons, one of which is behavioral changes.
The outbreak has focused primarily on men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary, although health officials have said that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is at risk if you have direct contact with an infected person.
Surveys have shown that high-risk groups listened to public health advice and made changes such as reducing the number of sexual partners and anonymous sexual encounters.
“There were really substantial changes among men who have sex with men,” Doron said. “High proportions said they had made significant changes in their behavior.”
Another reason, he said, is vaccines. As of Oct. 11, more than 906,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, the only vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent smallpox and monkeypox disease, have been administered in the United States, according to the CDC.
To increase the number of doses of JYNNEOS available, the FDA authorized a new strategy in August to inject the vaccine intradermally, just below the first layer of skin, instead of subcutaneously, or under all layers of the skin, allowing a vial of vaccine to be injected. given in five separate doses rather than a single dose.
Doron, however, said it is too early to claim victory over the outbreak, adding that it is important for those at high risk to continue to take precautions.
A patient receives the monkeypox vaccine during a vaccination clinic at the OASIS Wellness Center on August 19, 2022 in New York.
Mary Altaffer/AP, FILE
“As we’ve learned and seen with COVID, case numbers have a certain shape and what goes down can come back up,” he said. “So we can’t rest on our laurels and think it’s over.”
“The public can relax to a much greater extent than public health officials and hospital officials,” he added.