WASHINGTON: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday it knew of more than 700 global cases of monkeypox, including 21 in the United States, with research now suggesting that it is spreading to the United States. country. Sixteen of the first 17 cases were among people who identify as men who have sex with men, according to a new CDC report, and 14 were thought to be associated with travel. All patients are recovering or have recovered, and none have been fatal. “There have also been some cases in the United States that we know are related to known cases,” Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Pathogens and High Consequences Pathology, told reporters in a call. “We also have at least one case in the United States that doesn’t have a travel link and doesn’t know how they got their infection.” Smallpox is a rare disease that is related to smallpox, but less severe, which causes a rash that spreads, fever, chills and pain, among other symptoms. Generally confined to West and Central Africa, cases have been reported in Europe since May, and the number of affected countries has grown since then. Canada also released new figures on Friday, with 77 confirmed cases, almost all detected in the province of Quebec, where the vaccines were delivered. Although its new spread may be related to particular gay festivals in Europe, smallpox is not thought to be a sexually transmitted disease, and the main risk factor is close skin-to-skin contact with someone who has smallpox wounds of the monkey. A person becomes infected until all the sores have become a crust and a new skin forms. Raj Panjabi, senior director of the White House’s global health and biosafety division, added that 1,200 vaccines and 100 courses of treatment had been delivered to the United States, where they were offered to close contacts of those infected. . There are currently two licensed vaccines: ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS, which were originally developed for smallpox. Although smallpox has been eliminated, the United States keeps vaccines in a strategic national reserve in case it is deployed as a biological weapon. JYNNEOS is the more modern of the two vaccines, with fewer side effects. “We continue to have more than enough vaccine available,” Dawn O’Connell, deputy secretary of preparedness and response for the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters. In late May, the CDC said it had 100 million doses of ACAM200 and 1,000 doses of JYNNEOS available, but O’Connell said Friday the figures had changed, though he could not disclose accurate figures for strategic reasons. The CDC has also authorized two antivirals used to treat smallpox, TPOXX and Cidofovir, to be reused to treat smallpox. “Anyone can get monkeypox and we are closely monitoring monkeypox that can be spread to any population, including those who are not identified as having sex with men,” McQuiston said. That said, the CDC is conducting a special outreach to the LGBT community, he added. A suspicious case “must be anyone with a characteristic new rash” or anyone who meets the criteria of high suspicion, such as relevant travel, close contact, or being a man who has sex with men.