Rutgers Public Health Expert Available to Comment on Monkeypox Being Declared a Global Health Emergency by World Health Organization

Perry N. Halkitis, Dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, is available to speak on the World Health Organization declaring monkeypox a global emergency.

The following are quotes by Dr. Halkitis, which are available for pick-up: 

“Over the course of the last several weeks, cases of the monkeypox—a virus out of the genus that is related to chickenpox and smallpox—have emerged in Europe and in the United States. 

This virus is not deadly, and symptoms include rashes and other skin manifestations. The virus, which can incubate for several weeks, may create challenges for people who are immunocompromised, but most everyone who is infected will manage to reconcile the disease. To date, the cases of monkeypox in the United States have been evident primarily in sexual minority, gay and bisexual men. To be clear, this is not a gay disease. This is a disease that has placed undue burden on gay and bisexual men. It is incumbent upon us to continue to protect the rights of all people and not to use a situation such as this to stigmatize members of the LGBTQ population.

As we continue to battle COVID-19 and now monkeypox, we must be aware that pathogens such as these will continue to create chaos for us and in our public health system. It is incumbent upon all of us to continue to work diligently to ensure that those in our population, especially those who are most vulnerable, are vaccinated against all these pathogens so that we do not continue to have to combat outbreaks as we’ve seen over the course of the last three years and more importantly as we have seen with the rise of infectious diseases since 1981.”

Here is a clip of Dr. Halkitis talking to PBS: https://www.pbs.org/video/intv-halkitis-monkeypox-1658252369/

Media interested in talking to Halkitis can contact Michelle Edelstein at (732) 427-6232  [email protected]