Based on CDC and WHO guidance, checked against those sources on Oct 12, 2026. Educational information only — not a diagnosis or a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional.
What it is
Mpox is a viral illness that causes a painful rash and sometimes fever and swollen lymph nodes. There are two main types (clade I and clade II). Most people recover in 2–4 weeks, but it can be severe for some.
How it spreads
Close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact with an infected person's rash, scabs or body fluids — including sexual and intimate contact.
Prolonged face-to-face contact through respiratory secretions.
Touching objects such as bedding, towels or clothing used by someone with mpox.
Contact with infected animals (in some regions), and from a pregnant person to the fetus.
Symptoms usually begin within a week of exposure but can start 1–21 days after, and typically last 2–4 weeks.
Excerpt from World Health Organization:Recombination of monkeypox virus (MPXV) strains has been documented in recent months, with two cases of a recombinant strain comprising clade Ib and IIb MPXV reported. Recombination is a known natural process that can occur when two related viruses infecting the same individual exchange genetic material, producing a new virus. The first case was detected in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (hereafter “United Kingdom”), with travel history to a country in South-East Asia, and the second in India, with travel history to a country in the Arabian Peninsula. Detailed analysi
Published Feb 14, 2026 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Excerpt from World Health Organization:The purpose of this report is to raise awareness about the local transmission of clade Ib monkeypox virus (MPXV) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in countries previously unaffected or to date reporting only cases linked to travel. This report summarizes recent epidemiological developments, response activities, and the associated global public health risk. The second declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) for mpox was lifted on 5 September 2025. As both MPXV clades I and II and their subclades continue to circulate globally, leading to substantial outbrea
Published Dec 5, 2025 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Excerpt from World Health Organization:On 15 August 2024, the World Health Organization was notified of a laboratory-confirmed case of mpox with clade Ib monkeypox virus (MPXV) by the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) of Sweden. The patient reported travel to an outbreak-affected country in the African Region. While there has been recent international spread of clade Ib MPXV from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to its neighbouring countries, this is the first case of clade Ib reported outside of the African Region. Swedish authorities have implemented response measures. The only identified close
Published Aug 30, 2024 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Excerpt from World Health Organization:On 14 August 2024, the WHO Director-General determined that the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the highest level of alarm under the IHR. Here we describe the latest countries in the region newly reporting cases since the start of the multi-country outbreak in 2022. The clade Ib MPXV outbreak, which began in September 2023 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is having an increasing number of case
Published Aug 22, 2024 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Excerpt from World Health Organization:The International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) of the Republic of South Africa notified WHO of 20 confirmed mpox cases between 8 May and 2 July 2024, including three deaths (case fatality ratio (CFR) of 15%). These cases were reported in three of nine provinces: Gauteng (10 cases; 1 death), Western Cape (1 case), and KwaZulu-Natal (9 cases; 2 deaths). These are the first cases of mpox reported in South Africa since 2022 when the country had reported five cases, none of which were severe, and no deaths. The persons affected are men aged between 17 and 43 years old, and of
Published Jul 9, 2024 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Where:Country report · Democratic Republic of the Congo
Excerpt from World Health Organization:In December 2022, the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a national outbreak of mpox and an incident management system has been in place since February 2023, based on the increasing number of reported cases. Since September 2023, an outbreak of mpox in South Kivu province has continued to spread within the province and recently to neighbouring North Kivu, driven by sexual contact transmission. A new variant of clade I MPXV has been described in South Kivu. It carries predominantly APOBEC3-type mutations, indicating adaptation of the virus due to circulation among humans. It was estimate
Published Jun 14, 2024 · World Health Organization — Disease Outbreak NewsShare card
Current situation
Latest WHO country data is from May 3, 2026 — too old for activity levelsWorld Health Organization; redistributed by Our World in Data · May 3, 2026
