We shouldn’t discount the pandemic potential of mpox. If mpox cases were to seed in Europe, there could be rapid and sustained spread. Routine smallpox vaccinations were discontinued after the W.H.O. declared the disease eradicated in 1980. (The United States stopped routine vaccinations in 1972.) This means the world’s population, including in the United States, is relatively naïve to orthopoxviruses — the group of viruses that include mpox and smallpox.
Given how effectively mpox can spread through sex and other kinds of close contact, for instance, in homes and hospitals where there’s insufficient protective gear, mpox could become a major threat. This is the second time the W.H.O. has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.
The last time was in 2022, when there was an outbreak of a different type of mpox centered in Europe and the United States, especially among men who have sex with men. It affected nearly 100,000 people and was largely quelled thanks to vaccines and behavior changes. This dangerous subtype of mpox in countries that haven’t dealt with it before is cause for grave alarm. That is not only because of the risk to people’s health, but also because of what could happen to the world’s limited supply of vaccines.
A case in Sweden means there could be a temptation for rich countries to start hoarding mpox vaccine stocks for their own populations. This must be avoided at all costs.
Emphasis mine.