The monkeypox outbreak was avoidable and warning signs were ignored, expert says
NPRThe monkeypox outbreak was avoidable and warning signs were ignored, expert says Enlarge this image toggle caption Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images 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. "We have no concept of the scale of the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S.," biologist Joseph Osmundson at New York University told NPR in June. In response, in late June the CDC said it would "lean forward with an aggressive public health response to the monkeypox outbreak" and activate its emergency operations center. Enlarge this image toggle caption CHARLES BOUESSEL/AFP via Getty Images CHARLES BOUESSEL/AFP via Getty Images She said she had co-authored a paper in 2010 that documented a large increase in monkeypox cases since the eradication of smallpox and the end of the smallpox vaccine, which also protects people from monkeypox.