Vaccines for Mpox - An Unmet Global Need

Abstract

In 1970, the first case of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) was documented in an infant in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).¹ Infections with clade I monkeypox virus (MPXV) are endemic in the rainforest regions of central Africa and result from both zoonotic and human-to-human transmission. The cessation of smallpox vaccination in 1980 because of the eradication of smallpox has led to an increase in the number of individuals who are orthopox immune naïve and is felt to be responsible for a recent increase in mpox cases in the DRC. Comparisons of active surveillance in Sankuru Province from 2005 through 2007 revealed a 20-fold increase in the incidence of mpox compared with the 1980s, with a 5-fold-lower incidence among those with a smallpox vaccination scar.².