Federal Officials Assure Schools Will Not Close Due to Mpox Concerns

Fears of potential school closures due to the mpox virus have surfaced on social media. These concerns resonate with many who recall the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Dr. Michelle Taylor, the director and health officer of the Shelby County Health Department in Memphis, Tennessee, stated, «Kids have been through this before. They don’t want to go through it again.» Social media has seen various reactions, with many expressing their anxiety at the prospect of missing significant school milestones.

Federal health officials have clarified that mpox is fundamentally different from Covid-19 and are highly unlikely to result in school closures. Christina Hutson, head of the poxvirus and rabies branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasized that mpox can be identified through visible lesions on the skin, which makes transmission more controlled compared to Covid.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted through close skin-to-skin contact with individuals showing lesions. In contrast to Covid-19, which can spread through the air and asymptomatically, mpox requires direct contact with an infected individual or contaminated items.

Recent outbreaks of mpox have mainly occurred among specific groups, particularly men who have sex with men. Although cases are still circulating in the United States, two versions of the mpox virus exist, with Clade I causing alarm in Africa due to its high transmissibility.

Experts note that nearly all Clade I cases have been confined to African nations, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Research has suggested that, due to different living conditions in the DRC, the likelihood of household transmission in the U.S. remains low.

Dr. Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine at Emory University, stated, “The approach to this virus is very different.” He further highlighted that experts have significantly more information about mpox than they did during the initial stages of the Covid pandemic.

Overall, health officials reiterate that there is no current evidence to suggest that mpox will lead to school closures, identifying it as a controllable and non-airborne virus.