Yale School of Medicine professor available to discuss mpox emergency

Richard Martinello, MD, Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, is available to discuss the current outbreak of mpox after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency.

“From experiences in 2022, it has become clear that mpox can spread well beyond these countries where mpox is endemic,” Dr. Martinello said. “Further concerning, the current outbreak is due to a variant known as ‘clade I’. Infections due to clade I mpox tend to be more severe compared with infections due to clade II mpox, which was responsible for the 2022 global outbreak.”

Dr. Martinello notes that there is currently very little mpox circulating in the United States. “This could quickly change as it did in 2022, so it is important for people to be aware,” he says. “Transmission of mpox does seem to require close skin-to-skin contact, so this is not a situation where persons need to change how they use, for example, public transportation.”