Mpox in the United States and Around the World: Current Situation - January 16, 2025
January 16, 2025
Mpox in the United States and Around the World: Current Situation
What to know
There are two types of the virus that causes mpox, clade I and clade II. Both types spread the same way and can be prevented using the same methods.
There have been cases or outbreaks of clade I mpox in several countries in Central and Eastern Africa.
There have also been several travel-associated clade I mpox cases reported in countries in other parts of Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America.
CDC is working with public health partners in the United States and throughout Africa to monitor for mpox cases and increase surveillance capacity, in addition to other activities.
Clade II mpox cases continue to spread at low levels in many countries around the world.
Current situation
In the United States
The first case of clade I mpox in the United States was confirmed in California in November 2024 following the patient's travel to an affected area. The patient has recovered, and no additional cases were reported.
The second case of clade I mpox in the United States was confirmed in Georgia on January 14, 2025, in a traveler from a country experiencing sustained mpox transmission. The patient is in isolation and is recovering, and no additional cases have been reported.
CDC assessed the risk to the United States overall population and specific populations within the United States posed by the clade I mpox outbreak as low.
Children have historically gotten mpox in endemic areas in Western and Central Africa, and in this outbreak the high number of children with mpox reported in likely reflects spread within households. Based on what we know right now, we don't expect to see the same sort of risk in children if mpox were introduced in the United States for reasons including different household makeup and size, access to disinfecting products, and improved access to medical care.
In Central Africa, people have gotten clade Ia mpox through contact with infected dead or live wild animals, household transmission, or patient care; a high proportion of cases have been reported in children younger than 15 years of age.
Subclade Ib was recently identified in eastern DRC and has been spread through intimate and adult sexual contact between different demographics, including heterosexual spread with sex trade workers. So far, clade Ib has a lower case-fatality rate than clade Ia mpox.
Sustained and local person-to-person spread of clade I mpox has taken place in some non-endemic countries through sexual contact, day-to-day household contact, and within the healthcare setting in the absence of personal protective equipment.
he countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda are experiencing sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus; there is also evidence of sustained transmission in Central African Republic (CAR) and Republic of the Congo (ROC).
Countries reporting travel-associated cases of clade I mpox include Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Oman, Pakistan, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The ongoing global outbreak of clade II mpox has caused more than 100,000 cases in 122 total countries, including 115 countries where mpox was not previously reported. The outbreak is caused by the subclade IIb.
Historically, only Cameroon in West Africa had cases of both clade I and clade II mpox, as both clades are endemic, but in different parts of the country.
