ATLANTA — According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, there were only nine new cases of monkeypox, now called mpox, in the past week. That’s down sharply from the peak of 40 cases a day this past summer.
Question
With cases on a sharp decline in Georgia, is the mpox outbreak over?
Sources
Answer
No, the mpox outbreak is not over in Georgia.
Here's what we found
As Dr. Drenzek explained, "we started trending down just a little bit in September and it has continued to decline since then.”
According to the CDC, the outbreak has reached 103 countries that don’t typically see cases of mpox. That includes the United States.
Within just the past month, Indiana experienced its first mpox, related death. Los Angeles had its second death.
“Infectious diseases can be only a plane ride away from any place on the globe,” said Dr. Drenzek, who added that all one needs is a susceptible population to spread. The best way to fight that; vaccination.
Georgia's Department of Public Health has focused vaccine efforts on at risk communities.
However, Dr. Drenzek added that people in the high risk category need a second dose of the vaccine 28 days after the first.
The latest numbers show more than 8,000 people in Georgia haven’t followed through with that second dose.
“We’re seeing some folks do not get their second dose,” she said. “In order to achieve full immunity and greatest protection from mpox infection we need to ensure that folks get that second dose.”
So, we can Verify that the mpox outbreak isn’t over in Georgia and won’t be until there’s no longer a risk of cases rising once again.