Mpox is now a global public health emergency. Do I need to worry?

The declaration of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern following years of precautions against COVID-19 has many people worried. 

Here are some answers from Canadian infectious disease specialists and public health authorities on what this all means. 

On Aug. 14, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, made the declaration. He said a coordinated international response is essential to stop the outbreak in Congo, and to save lives, after the mpox virus surged across several African countries.

For governments around the world, the declaration represents a rallying cry to better monitor and respond to the threat by preventing, diagnosing and treating the infection.

But an individual's risk of contracting mpox, which causes painful rashes, varies. People with mpox can also experience fever, enlarged lymph nodes, muscle aches, headaches, and respiratory symptoms. 

Mpox is caused by a virus in the same family as smallpox, a virus that was declared eradicated in 1980. 

Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Alberta, said so far a lot of the spread of mpox has been through close physical contact, skin to skin, including through sexual activities. 

"This wouldn't be something like walking past someone on the subway," Saxinger said.

When an infected person has a lot of skin lesions, enough of the virus can get on bed sheets and pillows that someone changing the linens could be at risk.

That's why wearing gloves is recommended when changing the bed of someone who has an active infection of mpox, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist based at Toronto General Hospital.

"With no moralization and no stigmatization ... the epidemiology of mpox in Canada is largely, almost exclusively in the men who have sex with men community," Bogoch said. "Really, it's among men who have sex with men who are having multiple sexual partners."

Sex workers are also at risk for the infection, according to local public health units across Canada.

"In some of the sexual cases, there might be a lag even up to three weeks before the symptoms become apparent," Saxinger said.

It's important to identify the communities at risk for a meaningful and effective public health response and to gear communication and vaccinations to them, Bogoch said.