Today the federal monkeypox response team said the White House is launching a new research initiative to advance biological understanding of monkeypox and to increase treatment options for the virus.

Chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci, MD, said the world still has many unknown questions about the virus, and the treatment (Tpoxx) and vaccine (Jynneos) currently being used were first developed for smallpox, not monkeypox.

Both the antiviral and the vaccine are being studied in trials supported by the National Institutes of Health that are assessing the efficacy of both against monkeypox.

"As we implement the interventions that we have, simultaneously, we still pursue some unanswered questions," Fauci said today during a press briefing. "[Including] addressing gaps in basic biology and immunology and immune correlates, understanding better transmission as well as the issue of animal reservoirs."

Fauci also said new research needs to focus on developing better tests, as current tests require swabs of active lesions and can miss patients who are pre-symptomatic.