The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this month that the increasing spread of the mpox virus is a global health emergency, warning that the virus might ultimately spill from Africa — where it is currently spreading — to other parts of the world.
But public health officials and medical professionals are quick to note that mpox (which was renamed by the WHO from “monkeypox” in 2022) is very different from COVID-19.
In an effort to separate fact from fiction, PEOPLE spoke with Karl Minges, Ph.D. MPH, associate professor of public health at the University of New Haven, about the virus and how it is spreading now.
Is mpox the new COVID-19?
In a word: no. “WHO has made it painfully clear that this is not the new COVID in their announcement of this as an emergency alert,” Minges said.
As Minges explains, the WHO issues these types of emergency alerts in order to “prompt the acceleration of vaccine access for lower income countries.”
In other words, the declaration of a “global health emergency” isn’t necessarily a means of warning people across the globe that they might come in contact with the virus — but to allow entities like UNICEF “to procure vaccines for distribution.”
“It’s a way to get more tools to support those in the more heavily affected areas,” Minges adds.
Unlike COVID-19 in its early days, much more is known about mpox, which “was first identified in the late 1950s in laboratory monkeys,” Minges says.
“Human cases have been documented since the 1970s and a lot more is known about it,” he adds.
The reason more people are talking about mpox on TikTok, Instagram and in news articles, is due to a new variant.
“Like most viruses, it mutated,” Minges notes. “But we understand the value of disease surveillance, monitoring and prevention efforts — and it’s also important to note that a vaccine is available, and is FDA approved. There is a lot more fidelity in the treatment of this than in [COVID-19 back when the pandemic first started].”
Is mpox an emergency in the U.S.?
Not currently. The Biden administration declared the virus a public health emergency in August 2022, following criticism over the government’s lack of response. At the time, the government announced it would increase testing for the virus and stretch the nation’s limited supply of an mpox vaccine.
By January 2023, though, the U.S. government announced it was ending its public health emergency for mpox, citing a significant decline in cases.
Since then, the virus has continued to spread in other parts of the world, with the WHO estimating more than 14,000 cases in Africa this year — a number that exceeds last year’s figures by 160%. What’s perhaps more concerning is that the virus has mutated, though no cases of the new mutation (known as Clade I) have been reported in the U.S.
What makes the new variant of the virus different that the one that spread in 2022?
The Clade I variant, says Minges, is “more serious, with a higher mortality rate” — but, again, reported cases have almost entirely been in Africa and Asia (other than one recently reported case in Sweden).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that Clade I “causes more severe illness and deaths” and that “some outbreaks have killed up to 10% of the people who get sick” — though the agency notes that recent outbreaks have had lower death rates. Clade I is endemic to Central Africa.
The variant that spread in 2022 is known as Clade II, which causes less severe infections (per the CDC, more than 99.9% of people with Clade II mpox survive). Clade II has spread in the U.S., though the spread has since leveled.
The way the variant spread may also be different, though the virus is still being studied as it evolves.
The Clade II virus predominately affected gay and bisexual men. According to a CDC report, children have accounted for some two-thirds of the estimated 20,000 suspected cases of the newer Clade I variant in the Democratic Republic of Congo since Jan. 2023.
As Minges notes, both variants also have “an element of zoonotic transmission,” meaning it can spread between animals and people (either by ingesting the uncooked meat of an affected animal or by touching an affected animal).
Human-to-human contact, and mostly within households, though, remains of the biggest concern with the current spread of the virus in Africa.
Should people be worried about contracting the virus if traveling to an affected area?
Minges says that the most important thing to do when traveling internationally to places with known mpox outbreaks is to get vaccinated.
“There is an approved vaccine [and that offers the] best protection you can have,” he says. “It’s two doses, delivered four weeks apart. And if someone has already had mpox, they don’t need the vaccine, as the body has developed resistance.”
If traveling to a country with an mpox outbreak, it’s also important to lower your risk during sexual encounters or any type of close personal contact with someone who may have the virus or appears to have a rash. But protection goes beyond sex, he notes.
“If you’re traveling and going to raves, parties, clubs, or areas where there’s minimal clothing, there could be direct skin-to-skin contact where you might not even be able to see a rash on someone or be aware of it,” he says. “Avoid risky social gatherings in an area where an mpox outbreak is occurring.”
As with any virus, disinfecting and washing hands should also be a priority.
“As always, people who are compromised, children, and older adults are the ones who should think about getting the vaccine, if they will be around high-risk groups, with a higher rate of transmission,” he adds. “The new variant has indicated it is more highly-transmissible but, again, there have been no documented cases in North America at this time.”
