Following a major outbreak in Central Africa, a highly contagious and severe strain of the Mpox virus is spreading across all continents but has not yet reached the United States.
World Health Organization: Mpox is a global public health emergency
For the second time in two years, the World Health Organization has declared Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a global public health emergency.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed a country where the new Mpox strain was registered. The story has been updated.
Following a major outbreak in Central Africa, a highly contagious and severe strain of Mpox infection is spreading across continents.
The surge in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a dozen other African countries prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency last week for the second time in two years. A day later, Swedish authorities announced they had registered their first case of the Mpox virus.
Although the new variant has not yet reached the United States, that does not mean that U.S. health authorities are not preparing for this eventuality.
Here’s everything you need to know about Mpox and the recent outbreak.
What is mpox?
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, belongs to the same family of viruses that cause smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is not related to chickenpox.
Discovered in 1958, the virus was originally called monkeypox because it was first detected in that animal, rather than because monkeys are the source of infection. In recent years, however, the disease has been renamed Mpox to avoid the stigma associated with monkeys.
The disease is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans, but according to the CDC, it can also be transmitted from person to person through physical contact.
In fact, according to Politico, more human-to-human transmissions have been reported since 2016.
There are two types of Mpox – Clade I and Clade II. Clade I is endemic to Central Africa, while Clade II is endemic to West Africa. A new variant of Clade I, called Ib, appears to spread more easily.
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Is there an Mpox outbreak?
In Congo and surrounding countries, outbreaks have been getting worse since 2023.
In 2024 alone, there were over 17,000 infections and more than 500 people died from Mpox in Central and East Africa, mostly in Congo, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far this year, Mpox outbreaks have been recorded in 13 African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Central African Republic.
This is a significant increase from the 14,957 cases in 2023 and the 7,146 cases in 2022.
Last Thursday, the first case outside Africa was detected when it was announced that a traveler from Sweden had returned from a trip to Africa with the disease.
The Africa CDC has reported 500 deaths and, fearing further spread, has requested international medical assistance, but at the same time issued its own emergency declaration. The warning, known as a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC), is the highest level of alert under international health law, according to the WHO.
According to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, about 10 million doses of vaccine are needed for the outbreaks in Africa.
The US announced that it would donate 50,000 vaccine doses to Congo. However, experts believe that millions more will be needed from Western countries, especially the US, to contain the virus. To achieve this, vaccine manufacturers must drastically increase their production.
Is Mpox available in the USA?
Meanwhile, US authorities are preparing for the possible arrival of the new Mpox strain here.
But a CDC warning last week said the risk of spread in the U.S. is currently “very low.”
The CDC has also issued a health alert and travel advisory about the more potent Mpox strain in Congo and neighboring countries, and recommends that doctors and health officials watch for signs and ask patients about recent travel to affected areas.
While a few cases of the less severe variant of the virus are still being reported each week in the U.S., it is a different strain of Mpox, clade II, that emerged in an outbreak in 2022, Reuters reported.
Mpox in graphics: What you need to know after WHO declares global emergency
What happened to mpox in 2022?
This new strain of Mpox is slightly different from the one that has been circulating in the United States since the global outbreak began in 2022.
Until the spring of 2022, the Clade II strain was largely confined to the African continent, then it suddenly appeared in Europe and then in the United States. The first cases were detected in the United States in mid-May of the same year, and the peak was reached on August 1, when 638 cases were reported.
The outbreak was primarily due to cases in large cities, particularly New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, at a time when social events were taking place in the summer, such as Pride month. An emergency declaration due to the outbreak in the United States expired on January 31, 2023.
Since 2022, there have been outbreaks of clade II Mpox in the United States, primarily among men who have sex with men, but also among some nonbinary and transgender people, according to recent CDC data. In total, more than 32,000 people have been infected in the United States and 58 have died from Mpox.
However, Mpox clade I is not only considered to be more easily transmissible, but also more severe. Tens of thousands of people have already been infected, including children, sex workers and healthcare workers who do not have the necessary protective equipment.
How is Mpox distributed?
Mpox is often spread through bodily fluids and physical contact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
The disease is usually transmitted from rodents and primates to humans through bites, aerosols or contact with infected fluids. Human-to-human transmission usually occurs through close contact with respiratory secretions, inflamed skin lesions or recently contaminated objects, according to the WHO.
What are the symptoms of MPOX?
The infection is usually mild, but Mpox disease can last between two and four weeks and can be fatal if left untreated.
Most symptoms are similar to those of the flu and may also include purulent skin lesions.
Within one to three days of infection, the patient develops a facial rash that spreads to other parts of the body — including the hands, feet, chest, face, mouth and genitals — according to the CDC. The rash may start as pimples or blisters and become very painful over time.
The fluid-filled lesions go through a series of stages before drying out and falling off.
The incubation period, i.e. the time between infection and the onset of symptoms, is usually 6 to 13 days, but can also be 5 to 21 days.
Other symptoms of MPOX include:
- Headache and fever
- Swollen lymph nodes
- exhaustion
- chills
- Back pain and limb pain
- Rash all over the body
- Blistering lesions that resemble chickenpox and begin as small bumps
How is Mpox treated?
Vaccines are available and recommended for people in high-risk groups.
The approved vaccine JYNNEOS, a series of two doses at least four weeks apart, provides protection against both clade I and clade II.
As a recent CDC report shows, the vaccine is highly effective. In fully vaccinated people, the infection was contagious in less than 1% of cases. And in vaccinated people, the infection was milder than in unvaccinated people.
Although more than 75% of at-risk groups in the United States are not fully vaccinated against Mpox, many people who have received their first Mpox vaccination do not return for a second dose, a CDC analysis found.
Contributors: Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY; Reuters
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]
