Mpox has been detected at an Iowa prison, triggering enhanced sanitation and isolation protocols at the facility.
It is unclear how many inmates have been affected, but the outbreak marks the first mpox cases in Iowa in 2024.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, drew global attention in 2022 during an outbreak that affected the U.S., Europe, Australia and many other countries. The virus comes in two distinct forms, or "clades"—clade I and clade II—and spreads through close contact.
The disease has been declared a "public health emergency of international concern" by the World Health Organization as a result of escalating infections across Africa. There have been more than 20,000 suspected cases in the continent so far and over 500 confirmed deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak has drawn particular attention due to the spread of a new variant of the clade I virus called clade Ib, which appears to be more transmissible than previous forms of mpox. However, the detections at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility have been of the clade II strains, the same that caused the global outbreak in 2022.
Clade II mpox is mostly spread through sexual and intimate contact, with men who have sex with men being at the highest risk of infection.
"We are actively managing the situation with robust health measures[...]like enhanced sanitation and isolation protocols," Iowa Department of Corrections chief of staff Paul Cornelius said in a statement to the Des Moines Register, as reported by KCCI-TV.
Clade I mpox has not yet been detected in the United States, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that it expects the virus would "cause lower morbidity and mortality in the United States" than it has done in Africa should it make its way over.
Despite this, the HHS continues to encourage those at high risk to get vaccinated with the Jynneos mpox vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends such measures if the following applies:
- You had known or suspected exposure to someone with mpox.
- You are a gay, bisexual or any other man who has sex with men or a transgender, nonbinary or gender-diverse person who had a new STI diagnosis or more than one sexual partner in the past six months.
- You anticipate experiencing either of the above scenarios.
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