mpox

The patient was traveling from East Africa, where the mpox disease is endemic. The CDC says the strain does not present a high risk to the general population.

Congo has over 20,000 cases of mpox and hundreds of deaths, mostly in children, but zero vaccines until now. A planeload of doses donated from the EU landed in Kinshasa on Thursday.

There have been 11 mpox cases reported in Oklahoma this year. Although, the CDC has reported no cases of the different strain spreading through Africa in the U.S.

With nearly 5,000 cases reported so far this year — and concerns about a new strain — the Democratic Republic of Congo is considering the declaration of a public health emergency.

Is the mpox emergency over or is there still cause for concern? Numbers are down, but some specialists are still concerned about the likelihood of another outbreak.

"Removing 'monkey' removes the stigma that monkeypox comes with," an expert tells NPR. But he questions why the World Health Organization will wait a year for the change to take full effect.

Researchers say diseases that spread between humans and animals will become increasingly commonplace as human expansion into previously uninhabited areas intensifies.

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma started developing a monitoring program in 2020. Now, they're working with state health officials to scan for about a dozen pathogens.

Monkeypox is spreading primarily among gay and bisexual men, and owners of bars that serve that community feel well-positioned to share information without adding to stigma against LGBTQ people.

Despite the possibility of stigmatizing queer sex, experts say it's important to keep sex at the center of the conversation around monkeypox.