2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Israel

Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox)[1] is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals.[2] Symptoms include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.[2] The illness is usually mild and most of those infected will recover within a few weeks without treatment.[3] The time from exposure to onset of symptoms ranges from five to twenty-one days and symptoms typically last from two to four weeks.[4] Cases may be severe, especially in children, pregnant women or people with suppressed immune systems.[5]

The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus,[lower-alpha 1] a zoonotic virus in the genus Orthopoxvirus. The variola virus, the causative agent of the disease smallpox, is also in this genus.[2] Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infected skin or body fluids, including sexual contact.[2] People remain infectious from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and healed.[5] It may spread from infected animals by handling infected meat or via bites or scratches.[5] Diagnosis can be confirmed by PCR testing a lesion for the virus' DNA.[2]

An outbreak of mpox, a viral disease then commonly known as "monkeypox", was confirmed in May 2022.[6] The initial cluster of cases was found in the United Kingdom,[7] where the first case was detected in London on 6 May 2022[8] in a patient with a recent travel history from Nigeria (where the disease is endemic).[9] On 16 May, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed four new cases with no link to travel to a country where mpox is endemic. All four cases appeared to have been infected in London.[8] From 18 May 2022 until May 2023, cases were reported from several countries and regions, predominantly in Europe and the Americas but also in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.[16] The outbreak marked the first time mpox had spread widely outside Central and West Africa.

On 23 July 2022, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).[17] As of 18 March 2023, there had been a total of 86,516 confirmed cases in over 113 countries.[18][19] In May 2023, the World Health Organization declared an end to the global health emergency that was declared in response to the worldwide outbreak of the monkeypox virus.[20]