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What You Need to Know About Mpox
The warning signs and symptoms, plus how to protect yourself as cases rise in the U.S.
BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images
Don’t panic. Yes, the World Health Organization has again declared mpox a global health emergency, but the latest outbreak is limited to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the risk of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is very low in the United States, and vaccines are available that should protect against the variant now spreading in Africa. The CDC recommends two doses of the Jynneos vaccine for the best protection for those most at risk. The ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine is also available for immunization against mpox in high-risk individuals, under an expanded approval the Food and Drug Administration granted on Aug. 29.
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Am I at risk for mpox?
Unless you come in direct contact with an infected person, you are at little risk of developing mpox, according to health officials.
But you can take steps to prevent getting mpox, according to the CDC’s recommendations:
- Do not touch the rash or scabs of a person with mpox.
- Do not kiss, hug, cuddle or have sex with someone with mpox.
- Do not share eating utensils or cups with a person with mpox.
- Do not handle or touch the bedding, towels or clothing of a person with mpox.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially before eating or touching your face and after you use the bathroom.
What are the symptoms?
Mpox symptoms typically begin about a week or two after infection and usually include fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash on or near the genitals. The rash could also be on the hands, feet, chest, face or mouth. As with smallpox, pimples form, fill with pus and leave pockmarks upon healing. Other symptoms can include headache, muscle aches, backache, chills and fatigue.
How does it spread?
You can get the virus through exposure to an infected animal or person. Animal-to-human transmission is unlikely to occur outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo or a neighboring nation. Human-to-human transmission can occur through close contact with someone infected with the virus. Close contact includes talking or breathing close to someone or direct contact such as kissing or sex. During the global outbreak that began in 2022, the virus mostly spread through sexual contact. It is also possible to be infected through contact with clothing, bedding, towels or other surfaces touched by an infected person.
What is it?
A relative of smallpox and cowpox, the mpox virus was first discovered in 1958, when two outbreaks of a poxlike disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, according to the Center for Genome Sciences at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The 2022 global outbreak involved a less deadly variant of the virus. According to CDC data, only 9.6 percent of the reported cases during the 2022 outbreak involved adults over 50. Most (2,946) were men with women accounting for just 86 cases. There were 32,063 cases recorded in the U.S. and 58 deaths. Prior to that, the largest U.S. outbreak occurred in 2003, when 47 cases were reported in the Midwest among individuals who became ill after having contact with pet prairie dogs that had been housed near a shipment of small mammals from Ghana. Tests confirmed that among those mammals, two African giant pouched rats, nine dormice and three rope squirrels were infected with the mpox virus, according to the CDC.
Read the latest CDC information and the latest WHO information on mpox.
Editor's note: This story, originally published July 26, 2022, has been updated to reflect new information.
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