In mid-June, cases of monkeypox were in the double digits in the United States. There were drug treatments and vaccines against it. There didn’t seem to be any reason for alarm.

But in the weeks since, the virus has spread rapidly across the country, with some local and state officials declaring public health emergencies.

Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Longstanding weaknesses in the American public health system are giving monkeypox a chance to become entrenched.
• Here are answers to three pressing questions about how the virus spreads and how it can be treated.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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