The monkeypox outbreak was avoidable and warning signs were ignored, expert says

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/ [login to see] /monkeypox-outbreak-testing-vaccine-cases
Monkeypox has been a developing problem for decades and the current global outbreak was avoidable, but the looming threat was largely ignored, according to a leading expert on the virus.

Dr. Anne Rimoin is a UCLA epidemiology professor and has spent the last two decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo working on monkeypox.

She said it was only when the virus spread beyond rural Africa that it sparked a global response.

"This virus has been spreading in marginalized and vulnerable populations [in Africa] for decades, and we've done nothing about it," Rimoin said. "We have known that monkeypox is a potential problem for decades."

There are now confirmed cases in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. The Centers for Disease Control says there are more than 750 monkeypox cases in the U.S. — across almost every state — but Rimoin said this was certainly an undercount because there was not enough testing available.