President Joe Biden first referred to the surprise outbreak of the monkey pox virus in the Western world on Sunday, during his visit to South Korea.
Biden, who was trying to calm down, apparently sent the opposite message when asked how worried he was about the situation and what his medical advisers were advising him on.
"I have not yet been told what the level of exposure of the virus is in the population, but it is something we should all be concerned about," Biden said, adding: "We are making great efforts to test what is being done and what vaccine, if any, will be available for the virus. In the sense that if it spreads, it will have significant consequences, that's what they told me. "
The president's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, later said the U.S. has vaccines "relevant to the treatment of monkey pox" and that he updates the president according to correspondence he receives from the administration's medical advisers, who remain in Washington.
As you may recall, recent Biden administration epidemic experts have warned that there is a "matter of urgency" in treating the spread of the virus outside West and Central Africa, but have reassured that its transmission routes are not so easy, and in fact limited to direct human contact.
In any case, there is a known treatment for the virus, which as far as is known has not undergone a significant mutation.
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