Los Angeles

The US government has declared Monkeypox a public health emergency, more than a week after the World Health Organization qualified the outbreak as a global emergency.

"We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take Monkeypox seriously," Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday.

US has confirmed more than 6,600 cases of the disease which is nearly 25 per cent of the global total of 25,800 cases so far.

New York, California and Illinois, the top three states in terms of confirmed monkeypox cases in the country, have already declared state of emergencies in response to the outbreak.

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Some cities, including New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles, have also made their own emergency declarations.