Although the World Health Organization did not declare the monkeypox crisis a worldwide health emergency, there are increasing numbers of cases around the world.
One of them is Matt Ford, an actor with a base in New York City or Los Angeles.
“It has been one of the most painful things I’ve ever gone through. At the height of it last week, it was painful to the point that I wasn’t able to sleep most nights,”Ford stated.
He’s been speaking out on social media about catching the painful virus, which he says was way worse than getting COVID-19.
“[Monkeypox] was more like an intense flu with really painful skin lesions,”Ford stated.
The 30-year-old suffered from 25 lesions in his body at its worst.
“Thankfully these days because of COVID, most auditions are self tapes. I still have been able to audition. It doesn’t help that I have lesions on my face,”Ford stated.
The lesions are healing now, thanks to the good news.
Ford says he’s speaking out because he’s upset that more is not being done to prevent people from catching monkeypox.
Over half of all states have at least one monkeypox case. California has the highest number of cases with 89. New York comes in second with 74 cases. Illinois is next with 46 cases.
Last week, hundreds waited in line for the monkeypox vaccine at a Manhattan clinic. But supplies ran out quickly.
Dr. William Schaffner believes monkeypox spreads primarily from Africa. “person-to-person through close, intimate, skin-to-skin contact.”
“Something I’m emphasizing to anyone who might be exposed or who does come down with it, is to remember that this is a temporary condition. That certainly helped me when I was at my most miserable,”Ford stated.
The federal government ordered distribution of 2.5 million doses to monkeypox vaccine all across the country.