Good morning. We're watching the monkeypox outbreak as cases and questions continue to mount.

Monkeypox cases turn up in more countries

The list of countries investigating monkeypox cases grows longer by the day. Yesterday Canada joined nations in the Americas and Europe when health officials in Montréal said they were following 17 suspected cases. It’s possible that the first infection found in the U.S. — a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada by car — is connected to the Canadian cases. A potential case is also being investigated in New York City. It’s also possible more cases will surface as more countries look for the virus, rarely seen outside Central and West Africa. Other countries that have reported monkeypox cases include the U.K., Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Italy (in a person who reportedly traveled to the Canary Islands). STAT’s Andrew Joseph has more on the outbreak; Helen Branswell has questions for CDC’s Andrea McCollum on monkeypox, including whether smallpox vaccination, last routinely given in 1971, offers protection (possibly some).

Cancer death rates declined among Black people, but disparities didn't

Cancer deaths fell among Black people in the U.S. each year from 1999 through 2019, but they still had higher rates than people in other racial and ethnic groups. New NCI data in JAMA Oncology that tracked more than 1.3 million Black adults found rates fell by 2.6% per year for men and 1.5% per year for women, possibly because of better access to screening, earlier detection, improved treatment, and less cigarette smoking. Black people had higher death rates overall and for most cancer types than white, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino men and women. “The factors associated with racial disparities in cancer death rates are primarily systemic and preventable,” the study authors write, citing delays in care or poorer care that Black people experience compared to others. The Associated Press has more.

CDC panel recommends Pfizer's Covid booster for kids 5 to 11

A key vaccine advisory panel voted yesterday to recommend that children from age of 5 and 11 get a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine at least five months after they received their second dose. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices didn’t debate whether the vaccine booster should be available to kids in this age group. Instead, the discussion focused on whether the CDC should say these children “should” receive the vaccine, or to give what is known as a permissive recommendation, saying that children “may” receive the booster dose. Panelists came down resoundingly on the side of “should.” The vote was 11-1, with one abstention, that the CDC should make its strongest recommendation. As expected, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed the guidance. STAT’s Matthew Herper has more on the discussion.

Closer look: How vague ‘medical exceptions’ in abortion laws endanger pregnant people

Abortion rights supporters participate in a rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on May 14. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

While we await the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, states are passing laws that strictly limit abortion. Texas allows abortion for “a medical emergency”; Louisiana’s bill makes an exception to prevent “death or substantial risk of death” or “permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ”; and Idaho permits abortion “to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” Yesterday, Oklahoma legislators approved a bill that would ban nearly all abortions starting from fertilization, with an exception to save the life of the mother “in a medical emergency.” Those exceptions are so vaguely defined physicians say they will be unable to provide proper medical care. “I can’t do my job, I can’t provide ideal care if there are things I’m not allowed to talk about,” Amanda Horton, a perinatologist in Texas who treats high-risk pregnancies, told STAT’s Olivia Goldhill. “That ultimately harms patients.”

The shape of violent deaths in 2019

In the year before the pandemic, roughly 67,000 people died of violence-related injuries in the U.S. Once that number sinks in, consider that two-thirds of these deaths were by suicide, one-quarter were homicides, just under 9% were of unknown origin, 1.4% involved law enforcement, and less than 1% were unintentional gun deaths. There were differences by gender and by race and ethnicity:

The suicide rate was higher for males than for females.
The suicide rate was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native and white males.
The homicide rate was highest among Black males.
Among men, the most common method used for suicide was a firearm; among women, poisoning.

“Mental health problems, intimate partner problems, interpersonal conflicts, and acute life stressors were primary circumstances for multiple types of violent death,” the CDC report says. “Violence is preventable, and data can guide public health action.”

Trying to understand online addiction — still

I had to reach back to 2009 to find a Boston Globe feature I wrote about internet addiction, long before social media and remote work glued us to all manner of online attractions. A new perspective in Science takes a run at how to understand the lure of the internet and the distress it can cause, tracing the neural circuits in addiction. That pathway starts with “feels good,” moves to a habit, and then becomes a compulsion if not balanced by self-control that says “stop now” for gaming, shopping, or piling up likes. The mechanisms that make only some people vulnerable still aren’t understood. “It is unclear whether online addictive behaviors are developed because of a general tendency to be addicted or whether the online environments are specifically addictive,” author Matthias Brand of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany writes.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (Español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

What to read around the web today

Fentanyl tainted pills bought on social media cause youth drug deaths to soar. New York Times
FDA head: Baby formula factory could reopen by next week. Associated Press
A Black doctor tried to diversify medicine. Then she lost her job. Buzzfeed News
This rural, red Southern county was a vaccine success story. Not anymore. Kaiser Health News
Opinion: Hopelessness around youth mental health is creating a ‘nihilistic contagion. STAT