The CDC has issued a fact sheet in response to the clade I mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of other countries in Africa.
At this point, clade I mpox cases have increased in both endemic and non-endemic countries as far flung as Sweden and Thailand, where one case each has been reported “associated with travel to Africa.”
The Biden-Harris Administration “established an incident response structure across federal departments and agencies [in February] to ensure a coordinated response and to take a proactive approach to U.S. domestic preparedness for potential clade I mpox cases.” The risk to most Americans from clade I mpox remains very low.
The 2022 outbreak of clade IIb mpox provided a blueprint for the Administration to follow this time around, as surveillance systems already exist and need to now be expanded. Plus, the existing JYNNEOS mpox vaccine has been distributed in over one million vials between August 2022 and August 2024. Those who have “already had clade IIb mpox or who are fully vaccinated against it are expected to be protected against clade I mpox.”
The U.S. government “allocated more than $2.65 billion in bilateral health funding to countries in Central and Eastern Africa” in fiscal year 2023. Since March 2024, USAID and CDC “have provided an additional $20 million USD to support clade I mpox response efforts” in the regions affected. Over 200 staff “including epidemiologists, laboratorians, and risk communication efforts have been deployed to support response efforts in the United States and Africa.” USAID is also donating 500,000 doses of the FDA-approved JYNNEOS vaccine to DRC.
HPN has previously reported on the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa.
