Dallas County declares monkeypox outbreak emergency - The Dallas Morning News

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins issued an emergency declaration Friday morning due to the monkeypox outbreak as cases of the virus top 200.

The declaration comes one day after the Biden administration declared monkeypox a federal public health emergency amid a nationwide vaccine shortage.

“We’re going to defeat monkeypox through tracing people who have been in contact with a person with monkeypox, testing them and getting the vaccine now to the most vulnerable populations,” Jenkins said in a press conference.

The county health department recently expanded who is eligible for the monkeypox vaccine to include men who have sex with men who if they have had multiple or anonymous partners in the last two weeks.

Jenkins said the county will use the emergency declaration to try and get more doses of the vaccine, which are being distributed by the federal government.

The health department is working with several community partners — including Abounding Prosperity, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Community Health Empowerment and Prism Health North Texas — to distribute the limited vaccine doses.

Prism Health, an HIV/AIDS health care organization, opened appointments Wednesday for the 300 vaccine doses it received from the county.

Beyond vaccinations, public health measures like social distancing and isolating if someone is infected with monkeypox can also help prevent the spread of the virus.