Cases of monkeypox may be in a sharp decline, but experts say that doesn’t mean people should let their guard down just yet. For more than two months, new monkeypox cases have been trending downward since the first outbreak in the U.S. in mid-May and after peaking in August. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Oct. 20 there have been 27,835 monkeypox cases in the U.S., with 741 of those confirmed cases in New Jersey.
The downward trend is being attributed to a readily available vaccine, combined with a massive education campaign about the virus which led to behavioral changes by those most at risk. But the CDC is also reporting that cases affecting Black people have increased, while cases among Hispanic and Latino people have decreased and there’s been a flattening of cases among those who are white.
