New York declares end of monkeypox outbreak

New York City declared an end to the smallpox outbreak on Wednesday, thanks to a successful vaccination campaign and mitigation efforts that have kept transmission of the virus at very low levels for two consecutive months, according to the health department, according to the Department of Health.

The city reported more than 3,800 cases of smallpox, formerly known as monkeypox, between May and December 2022, according to the outbreak summary. There are also reports of at least two deaths. The number of cases peaked at about 70 a day and dropped to zero for much of the past month, health officials said.

People who self-identify as LGBQI+ make up the majority of cases in New York. Nearly 35% of patients were Hispanic; 27% were black; 22.4% were white, and 3.6% identified as Asian American and Pacific Islander.

As with COVID, New York became the epicenter of the U.S. smallpox outbreak in the spring. Since May, more than 155,000 doses of smallpox vaccine have been administered in five districts alone, more than the number administered in 49 US states. Only California (more than 289,000 people) administered more doses than New York.

Although New York has declared an end to the outbreak, mpox is still being transmitted in small numbers throughout the city. Health officials are reminding health care providers that they must continue to test symptomatic patients and that people should be vaccinated.

The U.S. public health emergency expired on Tuesday.