Fact check: Americans continue to spread monkeypox at reduced rates

Two doses of monkeypox vaccine planned for high-risk communities

The White House announced an equity intervention pilot program aimed at ensuring vaccines reach high-risk individuals facing barriers to access.

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In May, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking the number of Americans who test positive for monkeypox.Since then, social media users have made falseassertions about everything from the virus'relation to theCOVID-19 vaccine to who can contract the monkeypox virus.

ANov. 2 Instagram postmakes an even broader assertion.

"So...Monkey Pox Just Disappeared," says the post, which accrued more than 100 likes in five days.

But the claim is baseless. Experts told USA TODAY the virus still exists, and the CDC is still reporting positive cases. The number of cases, though, has dropped from earlier this yeardue to increased immunity and vaccinations.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

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U.S. cases of monekypox have dramatically decreased from their summer peak, according to Dr. Mark Slifka, a vaccinologist at Oregon Health & Science University.

As of Nov. 9, the CDCsaid therewere23 reported cases in the U.S., a fraction of the case numbers from the summer, when atone point more than 500 Americans had the virus.

But despite thatdecrease,the virus still exists domestically and internationally, Dr. Scott Roberts,an infectious disease specialist at Yale Medicine,told USA TODAY.

Cases began decreasing after public health officials spread the word about how individuals could reduce therisk of infection by changingtheirbehavior, Slifka said. Combing that with rising immunity levels and increased vaccinationsled to thereduction in monkeypox numbers, according to Slifka.

It's possible monkeypox could disappear at some point, though, experts say.

Because the virus is less transmissiblethan other viruses, if individuals continue to reduce their riskby getting vaccinated, there is a chance the virus will run out of new targets and disappear from the global arena, Slifka said.

Roberts agreed.

"There is a decent probability monkeypox will be eradicated in the U.S.given the trajectory things have been going these past few months, hesaid.

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Based on our research, we rate FALSEthe claim that monkeypox disappeared. While the number of cases has decreased in recent months, according to CDC data, people are still testing positive for monkeypox.

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Fact check: Americans continue to spread monkeypox at reduced rates