Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) is a rare infectious disease caused by the mpox virus, which is in the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.

Mpox is known for a characteristic rash that can occur on hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, or around the genitals or anus. Other symptoms may include flu-like symptoms. Symptoms typically develop by 21 days after exposure.

There are two types of monkeypox virus. While both types spread the same way and have similar symptoms, the severity of the resulting mpox is different:

Clade I is mainly found in Central Africa. It can make people very sick and has caused deaths at higher rates (up to 10%) in some outbreaks.
Clade II is mainly found in West Africa and causes less severe illness. It caused the worldwide mpox outbreak in 2022. Less than 1% of people infected with clade II die.

New and Popular

NEW DHA Flyer (Aug 2024): Mpox - What Service members SHOULD KNOW. This updated product addresses the August 2024 outbreak of clade 1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Africa countries that had been declared a public health emergency of international concern. As of August 2024, no confirmed mpox cases were reported among Military Health System beneficiaries within the U.S. Africa Command area of operations since 2022. The risk of mpox infection to Service members is low.

NEW Notice (14 Aug 2024): The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) due to increase of clade I mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Africa countries. The CDC classified the risk as very low to the U.S. due to the limited number of travelers and no direct commercial flights from DRC or its neighboring countries. The risk might change as more information becomes available. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) monitors for human-to-human transmission of mpox among Department of Defense (DOD) personnel. Service members and military family stationed in, traveling to the region, or who have been near someone who has been in the DRC area should avoid close contact with the sick, wash hands often, and get vaccinated if eligible. Talk to your healthcare provider if you have symptoms of mpox especially if you may have had contact with someone who has mpox.

2022 worldwide outbreak resulted in thousands of cases in the U.S. A majority of cases were in adult males who reported intimate physical contact with other males. Symptoms are often similar to those of certain sexually transmitted infections.

Key Prevention Tactics

Mpox needs close or intimate contact to spread, so casual contact like you might have during travel is not likely to cause the disease to spread. Steps to reduce risk include:

Avoid close contact with someone with mpox and lower your risk during sex.
Avoid contact with wild animals (alive or dead) in areas where mpox regularly occurs; this includes avoiding eating or preparing meat from wild animals or using products (creams, lotions, powders) derived from wild animals.
If eligible, get vaccinated: CDC recommends vaccination for people who have been exposed to mpox and people who are at higher risk of being exposed to mpox (U.S. military personnel can consult with their provider about vaccination).

Mpox Details

The most known symptom External Link is the mpox rash (which may look like pimples or blisters) and can occur on hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, or on or near the genitals or anus. Other symptoms may include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, backache, headache, exhaustion and/or respiratory symptoms.

Typically, the virus will incubate 3-17 days (when an infected person can feel fine and is generally not infectious). External Link Symptoms typically develop by 21 days of exposure. If a person develops flu-like symptoms a rash will typically develop in 1-4 days. The illness can last 2-4 weeks.

Mpox is treatable, however the disease is occasionally fatal. The rash associated with mpox can be confused with other rashes associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as still-common herpes and syphilis. However, it is also possible to be infected with both mpox and an STI.

Mpox can be spread from the time symptoms start until all sores have healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed; this can take several weeks. Mpox spreads by close, personal, and direct skin-to-skin contact with mpox rash, sores, or scabs or contact with objects, clothing, bedding, or towels, and surfaces that have been used by someone with mpox.

Mpox may spread through respiratory droplets or oral fluids from a person with mpox, but is less transmissible through the airborne-only route than COVID or flu.