CDC shares vaccine plan as mpox continues to spread

Mpox is spreading in Taiwan, as its effective reproductive number (Rt) is about 1.1, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, adding that the CDC aims to have vaccinated about 30,000 people against mpox by the middle of next month.

Since mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was listed as a Category 2 notifiable communicable disease on June 23 last year, a total of 52 cases had been reported in Taiwan as of Wednesday, CDC data showed.

That includes 43 local cases and nine imported cases — all men who were unvaccinated against the disease.

Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center

In an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published on Friday, Chuang said the mpox Rt value, or the average number of new infections caused by an infected individual, is about 1.1, lower than the 2.7 recorded earlier this month.

“Of course, new cases will continue to increase, but we expect the number to slow down as vaccines are administered,” he said.

Preventing the spread of mpox can be hard because the incubation period can be as long as 21 days.

The virus is mainly transmitted through sexual activity, and early symptoms can be unclear and misdiagnosed, Chuang said.

Symptoms in infected people often begin with a fever, then swollen lymph nodes, followed by skin lesions after one to three days, he said.

Lesions can present as rashes, sores or blisters, and sometimes occur in the genital and anal areas, he added.

“If people experience similar symptoms, they should immediately seek medical attention, and tell the doctor if they have visited other countries or if they have recently engaged in high-risk activities,” Chuang said.

Mpox can easily be mistaken for other diseases, such as chickenpox or measles, so people are advised to be honest with doctors about their symptoms and recent activities, he added.

The CDC is promoting mpox prevention on common social media platforms, as well as dating apps, encouraging people who are at high risk, such those who have had multiple sexual partners, have been to venues that allow sex on their premises or are sex workers, to get a pre-exposure prophylaxis vaccine for mpox, he said.

Chuang said that 30,000 people have registered online for the second round of mpox vaccinations, which the CDC aims to have administered by the middle of next month, hopefully creating a certain level of protection within Taiwan.

A batch of vaccines for about 60,000 people is expected to be imported in the middle of next month, he added.