Health and Human Services Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (HHSIEA)

December 6, 2022

Update on monkeypox (mpox) and the Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration

Date: Thursday, December 8
Time: 2:00 PM EST
Register for the briefing here

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will adopt “mpox” as the term used to refer to monkeypox disease in support of the November 28, 2022 recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) . U.S. leaders have been engaging with stakeholders on a regular basis regarding our shared concerns about this disease’s terminology and the urgent need for a change to a more appropriate name. This change from the WHO will enhance the U.S. response to mpox by using a less stigmatizing term.

Thanks in large part to the support of partners like you, public health efforts have led to a greater than 95% reduction in mpox incidence since the peak of the outbreak and more than one million doses of free vaccine have been administered thus far. Today, Secretary Becerra notified state partners that HHS does not plan to renew the public health emergency (PHE) declaration for mpox when it ends on January 31, 2023 , as long as cases continue to decline. We will continue to focus on supporting jurisdictions and the Department to ensure the expiration of the mpox PHE declaration will not hinder response efforts. The expiration of the mpox PHE declaration would signal we are leaving the emergency phase of the outbreak but remain focused on the urgent work of vaccinating those at-risk and providing treatments and other support to those affected.

The Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs will host a stakeholder briefing on Thursday, December 8 at 2:00pm EST to discuss these important updates, including Q&A with our panel of subject matter experts. Register for the briefing here.

The Administration will remain steadfast and continue fighting this outbreak with a focus on keeping mpox cases low and equitably increasing vaccinations.