Overview
- Researchers say the halt of routine smallpox vaccination after its 1980 eradication has reduced baseline protection against related orthopoxviruses.
- Scientists single out mpox as a key concern following a 2022 global outbreak that infected at least 120,000 people.
- Virologists caution that current smallpox-derived countermeasures and vaccines are far from bulletproof for novel or more virulent strains.
- Reports describe a more fatal mpox Clade 1b identified in Central Africa in 2023, with existing vaccines not yet widely tested against it.
- Experts emphasize there is no immediate emergency and call for stronger surveillance, targeted vaccine research, and coordinated international response systems.