As a deadly mpox outbreak continues to spread in Africa and other parts of the world, questions are emerging about whether some vulnerable people in the United States may need booster doses of the mpox vaccine.

Last month, the World Health Organization declared an mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to be a public health emergency of international concern, and the outbreak has spread to a growing number of countries in Africa.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. This outbreak involves a subtype called clade Ib, a relatively new strain that causes more severe disease.

A global outbreak in 2022 was caused by clade IIb mpox, spread primarily through sexual contact. More than 30,000 people in the United States were infected in that outbreak, which was also declared a public health emergency of international concern. But vaccination with the Jynneos mpox vaccine helped slow transmission to the point where the virus was almost gone in the US.

Continue to full article here.