Because the monkeypox outbreak continues, health officials have began tracking virus clusters in large gatherings like pool parties and music festivals to know the way it spreads.

In an interview with CNN, Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said this response has two different points.

“One is heavily concentrated, reasonably narrowly, on events that occur that might be the hotbeds for the spread, including large dance parties and pool parties,” Freeman said.

“Coming off of Pride Month, for instance, our health departments in certain areas of the country really had their hands full because there have been large events being held where people had many anonymous partners and there was no ability to even track how or once they were exposed,” she added.

Freeman stated that while the country isn’t on the phase of doing prevention efforts just yet, specializing in case counts in high-risk individuals should help manage the present vaccine quantity to patients who need it.

But case counts are on the rise. In keeping with the most recent data by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there at the moment are greater than 2,000 probable or confirmed monkeypox cases across the country. Providing more vaccine doses to cities and counties with rising cases should help alleviate the outbreak.

While not a sexually transmitted disease, the present virus outbreak appeared to have spread through skin-to-skin contact, specifically amongst men who’ve sex with men.

Nevertheless, health officials were quick to reiterate that anyone who comes into contact with an individual with an lively monkeypox infection may also be infected no matter their sexual orientation. Additionally they stated that the disease shouldn’t be stigmatized in any way.

“It isn’t predisposed to men who’ve sex with men . But there are circumstances and events which have made it in order that that is where we’re seeing many of the cases and transmission,” said Dr. Philip Huang, the director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department.

Local health departments across the U.S. are learning more in regards to the virus through contact tracing and other means.