Monkeypox Gets Closer to USVI Borders With at Least 4 Cases Confirmed in Puerto Rico

While the V.I. Dept. of Health has not confirmed any cases of monkeypox in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the virus has arrived in neighboring Puerto Rico with at least four cases being confirmed on the island commonwealth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first monkeypox case in PR was confirmed on June 30, with local health authorities asking the population to be on alert and to stop any chain of transmission. “If you have any symptoms, isolate yourself at home and speak to a health professional immediately,” said Puerto Rico Health Secretary Carlos Mellado in a release.

According to Dominican Today, citing the PR Health Department, all the cases in Puerto Rico are males between the ages of 20 and 50.

As of June 29 there were more than 300 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the United States, and federal health officials have been expanding efforts to vaccinate people against the disease which has been confirmed in thousands of people in places around the world where it historically hasn't spread.

The CDC has recommended vaccination against monkeypox for people presumed to be exposed, and not only those confirmed to have contracted the viral disease.

The CDC's new recommendation also covers men who have sex with men, and who recently had multiple sex partners in a place where monkeypox was known to be, or in an area where the virus is spreading.

"As the number of jurisdictions with cases increases, the need for medical countermeasures, including vaccines, continues to rise," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

According to the Wall Street Journal, supplies of the preferred vaccine, called Jynneos, are currently limited, so health officials said they would distribute it through a four-tier distribution strategy that gives priority to places with the highest case rates. WSJ said New York City already launched a broader vaccination effort last week, though it was hampered by limited vaccine supplies amid high demand.

The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services is expected to immediately allocate 56,000 doses of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine from the U.S. strategic national stockpile. The vaccine is made by Danish company Bavarian Nordic AS. Authorities are expecting another 240,000 doses to be made available in the coming weeks.