SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — We're going to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the global health emergency that is MPOX.
What's concerning about the African outbreak is that this strain is spreading among women and children and is different to the strain seen in 2022.
ABC7 News Reporter Tara Campbell spoke with medical experts who say it's too early for the Bay Area to worry.
For the second time in the past two years, MPOX has been declared a global health emergency.
Related: Mpox declared a global public health emergency by WHO What happens next?
The World Health Organization says more deadly strains of the virus are spreading rapidly in Africa.
“The United States will donate 50,000 doses of the FDA-approved, Geneva-made vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” State Department principal deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said.
U.S. officials hope to help curb the spread of the virus.
“We are also working with other countries, the WHO and other international partners to review vaccine deliveries and see what other efforts we can support,” Patel said.
RELATED: WHO declares MPOX epidemic in Africa a global health emergency
“People don't need to worry at this point,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.
He said traces of the previous variant can still be found in San Francisco's wastewater, but are low compared to the 2022 outbreak.
“What we're likely to find in San Francisco wastewater is a backdrop to what we're seeing in 2022,” Chin-Hong said.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health said wastewater testing has found the seven-day average of cases of the new variant is zero.
Read more: CDC advisers vote to recommend routine MPOX vaccination to prevent high-risk infections
No cases of the new variant have been reported in the U.S. yet, but doctors say it's still best to err on the side of caution.
“For men who have sex with men and transgender people who have sex with men, staying up to date on vaccinations is really important right now,” Chin Hong said.
This viral disease spreads easily from person to person and from infected animals.
“The transmission route is exactly the same as we saw in 2022, which is through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, so if you attend MUNI or go to yoga, you're not going to get infected,” Chin Hong said.
The CDC said it has tests, vaccines and treatments ready in case new variants reach the country.
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