Dallas County declares health emergency as monkeypox cases continue to rise
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Concerns about spread of monkeypox cases here in North Texas continues to grow. Just last weekend, one county declared a health emergency.
"The trend of monkeypox cases continues to go up, so we are alerting the community," Dallas County Health and Human Services spokesperson Christian Grisales said.
As of Thursday, August 11, Dallas County has recorded 265 monkeypox cases, Tarrant County has recorded 65, and Denton County has recorded 17.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins decided to issue the order after cases passed 200 last week. The order allows the county to allocate more resources towards the outbreak, and city leaders hope to make more vaccines available.
The city received 5,000 doses of last week, but supplies are quickly running out. "We've been distributing those vaccines to anyone who needs it, so we are running low at this moment," Grisales said.
City officials are also concerned about kids going back to school and other large events. They're reminding people to be mindful of the symptoms of monkeypox and to avoid skin-to-skin contact in large crowds.
"There's many things we can do at the moment, and that's why we want people to be proactive," Grisales said. "Learning more about this virus, and just taking every precaution."
Dallas County Health and Human Services said they hope to receive more doses of the vaccine soon. They've already requested them from the state and the federal governments.
For more information on Dallas County's response to monkeypox, you can click here.