Mpox was detected in tea water in the United States after the virus declared a public health emergency through the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a deadlier strain spreads across the continent.
Global smallpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was identified as the 2022 global outbreak that will affect the United States, Europe, Australia, and many other countries.
By the end of the first year of the epidemic, more than 30,000 cases of mpox had been detected in the United States.
The virus has spread mainly through sexual and intimate contact, with men having sex with men being at the highest risk of infection.
Two years later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the virus is still circulating, albeit at “much lower levels” and basically in small outbreaks in urban areas.
Testing and surveillance services have been developed and the country has “sufficient stockpiles” of mpox vaccine.
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Wastewater surveillance systems are in place throughout the United States to detect mpox activity and track it in communities.
This knowledge is useful because wastewater can be tested for infectious diseases circulating in a community, even if other people do not have symptoms.
The map below shows the detection of mpox virus in wastewater between July 10 and August 6.
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Detection remains very low, with only three sites testing positive: two in California and one in Illinois. Within those sites, detection was still low, with only a small percentage of samples testing positive in this period.
Case detections in the United States also matched the original strain of the virus from the 2022 outbreak, known as clade II. There have been no detections of the deadliest form of the virus recently circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries. Known as clade I, they have been detected in the United States.
There have been 1,122 cases of clade II mpox reported in the United States this year, the CDC reported. Most of the new cases were reported in people in high-risk groups who did not receive two doses of the mpox vaccine.
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According to the CDC, the mpox vaccine is if:
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Pandora Dewan is a senior science reporter at Newsweek, founded in London, United Kingdom. She focuses on reporting on science, fitness and technology. Pandora joined Newsweek in 2022 and in the past she worked as head of content for climate education startup ClimateScience and as a freelancer for content creators such as Dr. Karan Rajan and Thoughty2. She has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Oxford. Languages: English.
You can tap Pandora by emailing p. dewan@newsweek. com or on Twitter @dewanpandora.
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