TAMPA, Fla. — The World Health Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency last month after a concerning outbreak in Africa.
Mpox is a viral infection that’s classified into two groups: Clade I and Clade II.
“Clade II is the clade that caused the global outbreak back in 2022,” said Dr. Laura Arline, Chief Quality Officer for BayCare.
This time, WHO has issued a warning about Clade I.
“It looks like this strain is actually more transmissible than the other one was, which is a concern because, of course, if it comes in the US, it may actually impact more people,” said Dr. Jill Roberts with the USF College of Public Health.
The virus has already spread outside of Africa.
So far, global health officials have confirmed at least one case in Thailand and one in Sweden.
There are currently no confirmed cases of Clade I in the United States, but that could change.
“It is possible that we could have a traveler just like Sweden and just like Thailand, they were from travelers. They were travelers from Africa. It’s possible we could have a traveler from Africa come to the United States,” said Arline.
“I think it’s just a matter of time before we see it here in the US,” said Roberts.
WHO has sounded the alarm in hopes of keeping the spread contained and getting ahead of it.
"We’ve got to get some vaccines available. We’ve got to get testing available. We’ve got to get information out there to watch for symptoms," said Roberts.
“There are big vaccine campaigns to get the vaccine into Africa to start to vaccinate as many people as we possibly can there,” said Arline.
The reason is that experts believe this strain is more contagious.
“It can be spread by respiratory secretions. And so what that means is if I’m standing having a conversation with somebody who had mpox and we were very close and we were talking, you could actually spread it by that route or from a sneeze or something like that,” said Roberts.
It can also be spread by intimate and sexual contact and from contaminated objects like linen.
“It can be spread by... other types of kissing, hugging, etc. It can be spread by contact with the scabs,” said Roberts.
Symptoms include a rash with lesions, fever, sore throat, headache, and back pain. However, the rash is the telltale sign.
“The rash can start out kind of just as a spot, and then it becomes more looking like a fluid-filled bump or a pus-filled kind of bump. Then, it becomes more than just one. It starts as one and spreads from there,” said Arline.
The good news is infectious disease experts said if this does come to the United States, it will not be the next COVID-19 pandemic.
“The potential exists for mini outbreaks here and there, but it does not have the pandemic potential that COVID does,” said Roberts.
