Some officials now say monkeypox elimination unlikely in US

The US has the most infections of any country; with more than 25,600. [Istockphoto]

Some U.S. health officials are conceding that monkeypox is probably not going away anytime soon.

The disease's spread is slowing but the virus is so widespread that elimination is unlikely, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That conclusion was in a recent CDC report, and echoed Friday by Marc Lipsitch, director of science in the agency's disease-forecasting center.