New York has set up an SMS-text notification system to provide information on monkeypox, Gov, Kathy Hochul said Thursday.
Residents can sign up for text messages—which will include alerts about cases, symptoms, spread, and resources for testing and vaccination—by texting “MONKEYPOX” to 81336 or “MONKEYPOXESP” for texts in Spanish. By providing a zip code, New Yorkers can also opt-in for location-based messages.
The new SMS campaign is designed to alert New Yorkers to pertinent information about monkeypox, so they have protective public health facts and resources at their disposal. Messages will span information about how monkeypox presents and transmits, as well as what New Yorkers should do following exposure.
As of Wednesday, the state Health Department said that a total of 359 confirmed orthopoxvirus/monkeypox cases have been identified in the state, including 336 in New York City, 4 in Suffolk County and 2 in Nassau County.
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