In August, more than 450 people tested positive every day, with more than 30,000 cases and 28 deaths. The disease was primarily spread by skin-to-skin contact among sexual networks and was on track to become the next pandemic, according to the report. The public health emergency ended Jan. 31.
“Mpox is a success story of conquering an outbreak,” Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC.
Experts attribute the following to ending the outbreak:
- Rapid deployment of vaccines and treatments: Thanks to the smallpox vaccine, an mpox vaccine was produced rapidly. With limited supplies, the government public health officials made the controversial decision to split a single dose into multiple doses to maximize the effectiveness with much success.
- Aggressive public awareness campaigns leveraging trusted voices in the LGBTQ community.
- Public outreach and education.
Experts warn that the virus hasn’t been eradicated and could return.
“I think mpox generally provides a great playbook of how to deal with an outbreak: the alignment of science and politics needed, a national a local strategy that was implemented and having strong and unified consistent messaging that is empathic and specific,” Dr. Chin-Hong added.
