CDC Urges High-Risk Individuals To Receive Mpox Vaccination As Deadlier Strain Circulates In DRC

The New York Times (5/16, Mandavilli) reports, “With Pride events scheduled worldwide over the coming weeks, U.S. officials are bracing for a return of mpox,” which “struck tens of thousands of gay and bisexual men worldwide in 2022. A combination of behavioral changes and vaccination quelled that outbreak, but a majority of those at risk have not yet been immunized.” The CDC on Thursday “warned of a deadlier version of mpox that is ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo and urged people at risk to be vaccinated as soon as possible.” Although “no cases of that subtype have been identified outside Africa,” DRC’s “escalating epidemic...nevertheless poses a global threat, just as infections in Nigeria set off the 2022 outbreak, experts said.”