The mpox outbreak never ended in Africa. Now a deadlier strain is spreading.
Fortunately, public health agencies around the world acted quickly to improve disease surveillance efforts, increasing awareness among high-risk populations, particularly men who have sex with men, and encouraging safe sex practices. In the US and Europe, where there were just over 30,000 and 25,000 mpox cases respectively between May 2022 and May 2023, officials also disseminated over a million vaccine doses. Consequently, mpox transmission in most countries quickly dwindled. In May 2023, the World Health Organization lifted the emergency status.