![](https://media.nbcboston.com/2022/06/generic-monkeypox.png?resize=320%2C180&quality=85&strip=all)
The World Health Organization has declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern.
The outbreak has grown to more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries. In Massachusetts, 30 more cases have been reported in the last week bringing the total to 79.
STAY IN THE KNOW
![]() |
Watch NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
![]() |
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. |
No deaths have occurred in the United States from the disease.
As of this week, Massachusetts has administered nearly 3,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine. Clinics initially started in Boston and Provincetown due to limited supply but have since expanded to Worcester, Springfield, Lawrence, New Bedford, Framingham and Randolph.
Get top local stories in Boston delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Boston's News Headlines newsletter.
For a disease outbreak to qualify as an international public health emergency, it must be an extraordinary event that poses a health risk to more than one country and may require an immediate, coordinated international response, according to the WHO.
Massachusetts State Senator Julian Cyr, who represents Cape Cod and the Islands and previously served as policy director at the Massachusetts department of public health, says health clinics have been working for weeks to raise awareness among communities most at risk and seasonal workers.
“The general public probably isn’t at risk, at least in Massachusetts right now,” Cyr said. “But particularly if you are a gay or bisexual man, men who have sex with men, being vigilant about knowing what the symptoms are, looking where you can get a vaccine and getting a vaccine as soon as possible, that’s how we are going to get ahead of this.”
The virus is spread through close contact and causes flu like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes and a skin rash.