Overview
- This week the Wisconsin Department of Health Services confirmed five mpox cases located in southeastern and northern parts of the state and declined to identify specific communities.
- Federal and state surveillance show a broader rise in the United States, with 535 cases reported nationally in early May and cities such as Boston expanding vaccine outreach.
- Mpox spreads mainly through prolonged close face-to-face contact, sustained skin-to-skin contact, or contact with contaminated items and typically causes a new rash that can turn into blisters plus fever or muscle aches.
- Officials are urging people at higher risk, including gay and bisexual men and those with known exposures, to talk with a health care provider about the two-dose vaccine and to avoid contact with others if they develop symptoms.
- Public health teams are continuing contact tracing and local education while noting that mpox numbers fell after a larger 2022 outbreak in Wisconsin and have circulated at low levels since then.