Monkeypox: What Higher Education Institutions Need to Know - On Campus Podcast

Philip A. Chan, M.D., M.S., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and School of Public Health at Brown University and infectious diseases physician. Dr. Chan also serves as Consultant Medical Director for the Rhode Island Department of Health Division of Preparedness, Response, Infectious Disease and EMS (PRIDEMS). He is working with the Department of Health and other community organizations on several statewide initiatives related to HIV/STIs and other infectious diseases.

Monkeypox is part of the variola virus family, the virus which causes smallpox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus often shares symptoms like those in smallpox patients, however, less clinically severe according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO reports the first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 and is a disease of global public health importance. The first case of monkeypox was reported in the United States in 2003. The CDC is currently tracking an outbreak of monkeypox in several countries, including the U.S., which does not normally report the virus. Colleges and universities in the U.S. have started to report cases across the country according to an August 2022 report from National Public Radio (NPR). However, higher education institutions can take steps to prevent the spread of monkeypox through testing, vaccination, preventing stigma, and educating their campus population on the virus.

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