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. 2023 Sep 1;72(35):944-948.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7235a2.

Possible Exposures Among Mpox Patients Without Reported Male-to-Male Sexual Contact - Six U.S. Jurisdictions, November 1-December 14, 2022

J Danielle Sharpe, Kelly Charniga, Katrina M Byrd, Ruth Stefanos, Linda Lewis, Jessica Watson, Amanda Feldpausch, Jessica Pavlick, Julie Hand, Theresa Sokol, Emma Ortega, Preeti Pathela, Robin R Hennessy, Melissa Dulcey, Lisa McHugh, Michael Pietrowski, Dana Perella, Seema Shah, Azarnoush Maroufi, Melanie Taylor, Anna Cope, Ermias D Belay, Sascha Ellington, Andrea M McCollum, Leah Zilversmit Pao, Sarah Anne J Guagliardo, Patrick Dawson

Possible Exposures Among Mpox Patients Without Reported Male-to-Male Sexual Contact - Six U.S. Jurisdictions, November 1-December 14, 2022

J Danielle Sharpe et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

The extent to which the 2022 mpox outbreak has affected persons without a recent history of male-to-male sexual contact (MMSC) is not well understood. During November 1-December 14, 2022, CDC partnered with six jurisdictional health departments to characterize possible exposures among mpox patients aged ≥18 years who did not report MMSC during the 3 weeks preceding symptom onset. Among 52 patients included in the analysis, 14 (27%) had a known exposure to a person with mpox, including sexual activity and other close intimate contact (eight) and household contact (six). Among 38 (73%) patients with no known exposure to a person with mpox, self-reported activities before illness onset included sexual activity and other close intimate contact (17; 45%), close face-to-face contact (14; 37%), attending large social gatherings (11; 29%), and being in occupational settings involving close skin-to-skin contact (10; 26%). These findings suggest that sexual activity remains an important route of mpox exposure among patients who do not report MMSC.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

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