Monkeypox is declared a public health emergency in New York City.

As a result of the spread of the monkeypox virus, authorities in New York City on Saturday declared a public health emergency, referring to the city as “the epicenter” of the outbreak.

As many as 150,000 city residents may be at risk of infection, the mayor, Eric Adams, and the health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, warned in their announcement on Saturday. Officials will be able to adopt steps to help prevent the spread by amending the city health code and issuing emergency directives as permitted by the proclamation.

Monkeypox has been deemed an “imminent threat to public health” by the state health department and proclaimed a state disaster emergency by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in the previous two days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statistics showed that as of Friday, New York had 1,345 cases. With 79, California came in second.

Adams and Vasan stated in the statement, “We will continue to work with our federal partners to get more doses as soon as they become available.” This epidemic requires urgent national and international action and resources, and this declaration of a public health emergency underscores the gravity of the situation.

Monkeypox was declared a worldwide health emergency by the World Health Organization on July 23, and the mayor of San Francisco issued a state of emergency on Thursday due to the rising number of cases.

The formerly rare disease has been widespread in some areas of central and west Africa for decades, but until May, when authorities discovered dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America, and other places, it was not known to cause significant outbreaks outside of the continent or to spread rapidly among people.

The monkeypox virus type seen in this epidemic seldom causes death, and patients often recover in a few weeks. However, the virus-induced sores and blisters are painful.