By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
As of Monday, 18 new cases of mpox had been reported this month, topping the highest monthly number in two years, with local cases having been reported weekly for seven consecutive weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday.
CDC data showed that 52 mpox cases had been reported so far this year as of Monday, comprising 41 locally acquired cases and 11 imported.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said 18 cases were reported in the first 19 days of this month alone, including 16 with the Clade 1b mpox virus, a variant first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 2023.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General and spokesman Lin Min-cheng speaks at a news conference in Taipei in an undated photograph.
Photo: Lo Pi, Taipei Times
Contact tracing showed that the 16 cases were aged between 20 and 50, with all of them having had unsafe sex and only two having received an mpox vaccine, Guo said.
Thirty people have tested positive for Clade 1b mpox so far this year, with 22 local cases and eight imported — six from Thailand and two from Hong Kong, he said.
The risk of cross-border Clade 1b mpox viral transmission is increasing, with 68 countries and areas having reported confirmed cases, while mpox cases have been rising in parts of the WHO’s Western Pacific Region, Guo said.
A WHO assessment report published in August showed that overall global public health risk is “moderate” for “individuals with multiple sexual partners,” and “low” for all other individuals, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Lin Min-cheng (林明誠) said that local mpox cases have been reported weekly for seven consecutive weeks.
The 52 local mpox cases reported so far this year is about 20 percent higher than the same period last year, Lin said.
“We continue to urge people who are eligible for [mpox] vaccination to get fully vaccinated with two doses for full protection,” he said.
Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing mpox infection, the CDC said, adding that getting the full two-dose regimen provides about 90 percent protection, while one dose provides about 40 to 80 percent.
There are 327 healthcare facilities across Taiwan that provide publicly funded mpox vaccinations, so people who have engaged in high-risk sexual behavior, such as having multiple sexual partners, engaged in sex work or had sex at commercial venues should get vaccinated, it said.