The US government does not plan to renew the public health emergency for mpox, the virus formerly known as monkeypox, and Tuesday is the last day of the declaration. The Department of Health and Human Services notified states in December of its plan not to renew the emergency. “Given the low number of cases today, HHS has not renewed the emergency declaration,” officials said in a statement. “We will continue to closely monitor case trends and encourage all at-risk individuals to get a free vaccine.” More than 30,000 people in the US have contracted the mpox virus this year as part of an outbreak that began this summer, and there have been at least 85,000 confirmed cases worldwide. However, the number of new mpox infections in the US has since declined.
