Although mpox cases related to the 2022 global outbreak were diagnosed in people who had traveled aboard, the virus now is spreading continuously in the United States.

Persistent, low levels of mpox “suggest a likely transition toward endemic circulation,” according to a report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) flagship publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The paper also quantifies the risk of hospitalization in unvaccinated mpox patients.

Mpox spreads through close contact, such as cuddling, kissing, or sex. Mpox can spread among household contacts, either from skin-to-skin contact or by sharing towels or bedding. In the current outbreak in Guinea-Bissau, half of cases are in children.

In the United States, mpox is most common among men who have sex with men. The CDC recommends that people at risk for mpox, including those traveling to countries with outbreaks of the virus, receive two doses of the Jynneos vaccine.

In 2024 and 2025, according to the report, 76% of mpox cases in the United States were in unvaccinated people, who were nearly 10 times as likely to be hospitalized with the virus as those who received both vaccine doses.

Before 2022, US mpox cases were related to foreign travel or infections from small animals imported from abroad. There are two types of mpox, clade 1 and clade 2. The CDC confirmed about 30,000 clade 2b mpox cases in the United States in 2022.

The global outbreak of clade 2b mpox that began in 2022 has infected 100,000 people in 122 total countries, including 115 countries in which mpox was not previously reported.

• Opposition to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on childhood vaccines continues to mount, as more than 210 medical, health, and patient advocacy groups signed a letter condemning the administration’s efforts to reduce the number of childhood vaccines and spread out the doses. The statement reads, in part, “Families deserve clear guidance from federal health officials that is grounded in science and aimed at protecting children’s health. Instead, the White House released an Executive Order that undermines confidence in childhood vaccinations and recommends changes that would leave children less protected and families more confused.”
• Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its Cyclospora numbers linked to a huge iceberg lettuce outbreak, adding 1,449 cases, for a total of 10,930 cases, including 454 hospitalizations, of which 56 are new. Deaths remain at two, and the number of affected states holds steady at 17. Also yesterday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it started inspections and taking samples from iceberg lettuce farms in Mexico with the help of Mexican officials. The agency “remains confident” that all recalled iceberg lettuce connected to this massive outbreak is no longer available.”
• Afghanistan reported four cases of wild poliovirus, while several African nations confirmed vaccine-derived cases, according to an update today from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced five circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases, and Sudan reported three cVDPV2 cases. Niger had one cVDPV3 case and Nigeria had one cVDPV2 case and one cVDPV3 case. On a positive note, Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the DRC, and Uganda all ended their polio outbreaks, though they will need continue surveillance measures and ensure high population immunity to prevent future infections.