UVA advises two Virginia MPOX cases not linked to global health emergency

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) -For Virginians, it is likely not time to panic over MPOX. But in a world where international travel is increasingly commonplace, viruses can travel fast.

“Viruses, bacteria, and other infectious diseases don’t see borders,” University of Virginia Professor of Medicine Doctor Kyle Enfield said.

With the MPOX outbreak tearing through West, Central, and now East Africa, the question UVA doctors are asking is whether the health emergency will come here too.

“These kinds of warnings come from the World Health Organization when we do worry that disease has spread from a local issue to beyond what we would see as the borders,” Dr. Enfield said.

Dr. Enfield said Virginians should not panic, emphasizing that the two reported mpox cases in Virginia were the 2022 strand of the virus, not the 2024 strand over which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency.

However, overseas, Enfield said the case count might be higher than reported.

“We think this is a tip of the iceberg sort of phenomenon where people where people may not be presenting with the disease, so we don’t really know the full severity of illness, and we know there are people who have the disease that aren’t presenting for treatment or evaluation,” Enfield said.

Enfield said the spread of MPOX is slower than some other viruses, making it more difficult to contract.

“When you have diseases like Mpox where close skin to skin contact or close human contact is necessary, as opposed to respiratory diseases, you’re likely to see a slower spread than in influenza, COVID,” Enfield said.

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