Lack of testing, rationed vaccine doses, and weeks of painful quarantine characterized last year’s outbreak of mpox, then known as monkeypox.
But a recent cluster of cases in Chicago, which triggered an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was quickly controlled with ample testing and vaccinations.
“The fact that this (Chicago) outbreak did not spread … shows that we’re in a very different place than a year ago,” said Dr. Jason Zucker, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University.
Health officials urge Americans to protect themselves against mpox this summer, but unlike COVID-19 and influenza, not everyone is eligible to get vaccinated.