Thursday, June 2, 2022

Global USA Monkeypox continues to spread now involving over 23 countries with 800 cases. There are 19 documented cases in the USA but this is likely a very significant undercount at this point. PRESS: South Florida PBS interview for Town Hall with Michael Zinner; USA Today interview on HEROS study (food allergy and COVID) June 3-6, 2022 –Global – 528,816,317/6,294,949; USA – 84,424,159//1,003,308 I had an idyllic weekend at Jeff Zients’s palatial estate in Annapolis. Chris and I (together with Brett and Tony….) had a spectacular weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect at 85 degrees with a cool breeze and not a single cloud in the sky for the entire 2 1/2 days that we were there. We did everything: swim, boat, fish, basketball, tennis and most importantly – birdwatching. There were osprey all over the place with a nest in a tree in his back yard. There were copious varieties of birds that we saw and heard. Gave me the opportunity to return, however briefly, to some form of “normality”. it was entirely refreshing. I received an important call during my stay in Annapolis. Secretary Becerra wanted to speak to me to get my advice about whether we were doing all we can as a department to address the emerging monkeypox challenge. He was calling upon my experience in previous outbreaks to make sure that HHS (particularly CDC) was doing everything that they could. This was triggered by the fact that Ron Klain is very concerned about whether the CDC is up to the job and would not drop the ball again with regard to things like making a number of tests available. The secretary asked me what I thought the potential vulnerabilities were and I emphasized the fact that we cannot accept the CDC saying that they are the only ones that can do a test for monkeypox. We've got to convert this to a commercialization as quickly as we possibly can so that we don't have the same problem with not enough tests to understand whether or not we are dealing only with the tip of an iceberg. I offered up the cohorts of stored server that we (NIAID) have from the days of HIV/AIDS to see if there was smoldering below the radar screen infection with monkey pox among the gay population for some time before we even recognized it. Right now, as the results are coming in, it is clear that overwhelmingly the cases in the non-endemic areas of the United States, Europe, and other continents are predominantly among gay men. It is striking that the secretary “hinted” that Ron Klain is on the verge doing something dramatic with the CDC, such as removing Rochelle, which I believe would be a mistake since it is not her fault; it is the institutional rigidity of the CDC that has been the problem for decades. I explained this to the secretary and told him that it was not Rochelle that was the issue it was the structure beneath it. I got the impression that he completely understood this and was asking for my help and making sure things get done correctly.