- Recent CDC data showed at least 1,814 cases of monkeypox in the US across 44 states.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci sounded the alarm on Saturday, arguing for taking it more seriously.
- Per Fauci, the disease could ultimately take a toll far worse than the numbers so far suggest.
As monkeypox continued to spread in the US, Dr. Anthony Fauci is sounded the alarm on the contagious disease.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of America's top infectious disease experts, told CNN on Saturday that monkeypox is "something we definitely need to take seriously."
"We don't know the scope and the potential of it yet, but we have to act like it will have the capability of spreading much more widely than it's spreading right now," he said.
His warnings echoes the dynamic around the COVID-19 pandemic, which was dealt with dismissively under the Trump administration until it spread so rapidly that it was difficult to confront.
Monkeypox has been detected in 44 US states and territories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the majority of cases in New York, California, and Florida.
Data released Friday showed 1,814 probable or confirmed cases in the US. Those numbers are "very likely an undercount," Fauci told CNN.
Cases are expected to increase through July and August, according to CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, per CNBC. This is because of the three-week incubation period that makes the disease hard to spot early.
Fauci said that testing for monkeypox was ramping up, with five commercial testing laboratories due to come online soon.
"Whenever you have the emergence of something like this, you are always probably looking at what might be – might be, we don't know – the tip of the iceberg, so that's the reason why we've got to get the testing out there in a much, much more vigorous way," Fauci said.
Monkeypox can be spread from person to person through close contact.
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, backache, and a rash. An infection can last anywhere from two to four weeks, Insider previously reported.
The rash often begins with flat, red bumps on the face and then spreads elsewhere on the body. It then turns into pus-filled blisters which eventually crust over and fall off.
A man who caught monkeypox told Insider that it was "'one of the most painful and miserable experiences of my life."
There is a vaccine for monkeypox, known as Jynneos, but The New York Times reported that demand is far exceeding supply. The US has ordered nearly seven million doses in total, but many will not arrive for months.
Public health experts have criticized the US response to the monkeypox outbreak as too slow, The New York Times said.