President Joe Biden says he doesn't believe a quarantine situation in the United States makes logistical sense right now as a means of preventing the spread of monkeypox.
While speaking on Monday in Tokyo, the president pointed to the readily available vaccines used for combating flare-ups of monkeypox, along with the extremely low numbers of monkeypox infections in the U.S. and worldwide.
"I just don't think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with (the COVID-19 pandemic); and the smallpox vaccine works for it," Biden said after a meeting with Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister.
Biden's comments on Monday run somewhat contrary to his assessment over the weekend of the monkeypox virus, saying then that "everybody should be concerned."
Belgium has become the first country to quarantine its residents due to monkeypox-transmission concerns, requiring those infected to isolate for 21 days.
Over the weekend, more than 90 confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported worldwide — with 28 other suspected cases for medical officials to document.
The World Health Organization has identified monkeypox cases in 12-plus countries — including Australia, Canada and the U.S.
A Massachusetts man traveling to Canada recently became the first confirmed case of monkeypox in in the U.S. Shortly thereafter, the Florida and New York state health departments dealt with possible, or "presumptive," monkeypox cases.
A presumptive case has the makings of a full monkeypox infection. But it first requires the confirmation of a national medical body such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been directly or indirectly tied to more than 1 million deaths in the United States, with roughly 60% occurring on Biden's watch as president.
Unlike the smooth transmission of a coronavirus droplet moving from person to person, however, monkeypox does not spread easily between humans.
According to The Hill, CDC studies suggest that smallpox vaccine is at least 85% effective against monkeypox.
The CDC has issued a health advisory for physicians to be vigilant of the symptoms, although the public health risk of monkeypox remains relatively low.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, and the characteristic rash that covers the face and body.
Citing health officials, the monkeypox pathogen incubates for roughly five to 13 days, and a person is considered contagious at the onset of symptoms.
The patients are presumed to be infectious until their skin lesions scab over and new, healthy skin has formed.