#18,975
Overnight the World Health Organization published a lengthy DON (Disease Outbreak Report) on these recent cases. Due to its length, I'll just provide a link for you to follow, and a couple of brief excerpts.
I'll have a bit more after the break.
Broader transmission of mpox due to clade Ib MPXV – Global situation
5 December 2025
Description of the situation
Since the lifting of the second PHEIC for mpox on 5 September 2025, and as of 24 November 2025, 43 new confirmed cases of clade Ib MPXV have been reported across six WHO regions outside areas where sustained community transmission of this virus strain has been occurring. In four of these regions (Region of the Americas, South-East Asia Region, European Region and the Western Pacific Region), 24 cases had reported no recent international travel, suggesting local transmission.
Based on this, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United States of America are now considered to be experiencing community transmission of clade Ib MPXV. In addition, travel-related cases continue to be reported in many countries.
Among the 43 cases, half (22) were documented among men who have sex with men, while other cases were linked to travel to countries with known community transmission of clade Ib, or secondary to travel-related cases (household contacts and/or sexual partners).
This report provides an overview of these recent cases of mpox confirmed to be due to clade Ib MPXV, by WHO region and country, summarizing key available epidemiological information, followed by WHO’s rapid risk assessment and public health advice.
WHO risk assessment
In light of the epidemiological developments presented above and confirmation of community transmission of clade Ib MPXV in all WHO regions, WHO assesses the public health risk posed by clade Ib MPXV as moderate for men who have sex with men with new and/or multiple partners, and the risk to the general population as low.
While the number of community cases reported outside of the endemic regions of Africa remain limited, they do appear to be increasing. In recent months we've looked at a number of reports, including:
Like all viruses, Monkeypox continues to evolve and diversify, a topic that was addressed in the 2014 EID Journal article Genomic Variability of Monkeypox Virus among Humans, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the authors cautioned:
Small genetic changes could favor adaptation to a human host, and this potential is greatest for pathogens with moderate transmission rates (such as MPXV) (40). The ability to spread rapidly and efficiently from human to human could enhance spread by travelers to new regions.
In the decade since, 2 new clades (Ib and IIb) have emerged, and have spread outside of Africa.
Which only increases the chances that it - or another emerging pox virus - will someday find a way to make a comeback.While clade Ib continues to struggle to establish a foothold outside of Africa, our collective immunity from the smallpox vaccine - which was discontinued in the late 1970s - continues to wane.
