In August, the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and several other African countries a public health emergency of international concern. This is the second time in two years that mpox, formerly called monkeypox, has been listed as a PHEIC. In 2022, mpox spread through multiple countries, including the United States where transmission from that outbreak continues at a rate of about 250 cases a month.
Traditionally mpox spreads mainly via direct contact with infected animals, but in the 2022 outbreak, the virus was seen to be transmitting from person-to-person through sexual contact. Last fall, health officials were alerted to the fact that sexual contact was also being seen in transmission of the virus in a new outbreak in eastern DRC and neighboring countries.
In this video, STAT senior writer Helen Branswell answers the most frequently asked questions about what is happening with mpox now and what can be done to stop this current outbreak.