Biden to name FEMA, CDC officials to lead U.S. monkeypox response -AP

(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden is set to name top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to head the response to monkeypox, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

Robert Fenton, acting administrator at FEMA who helped lead mass vaccination effort for COVID-19 in February 2021, will serve as the White House coordinator to head the monkeypox response.

Fenton’s deputy will be Demetre Daskalakis, the director of the CDC’s HIV prevention division, the news agency reported.

The duo will coordinate on “strategy and operations to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of tests, vaccinations and treatments,” the White House told AP.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

More than 3,500 monkeypox cases have been reported in the United States since the first case was confirmed in Massachusetts on May 20.

The disease, which causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Alex Alper in Washington)