mpox cases in England, by month in 2023 and 2024
less than 290 cases in the uk since 2022
Current epidemiological situation up to 31 July 2024
Detection of cases of mpox infection, acquired within the UK, were confirmed in England from 6 May 2022. The outbreak has mainly been in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men without documented history of travel to endemic countries.
Suspected mpox samples that are positive using a mpox polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test are classified as confirmed cases. Samples which are positive using an orthopox PCR test are classified as highly probable cases. Orthopox is the group of viruses which includes mpox. The counts below combine both of these categories.
Up to 31 December 2022, there were 3,732 confirmed and highly probable mpox cases reported in the UK. Of these, 3,553 were in England, 34 were in Northern Ireland, 97 were in Scotland and 48 were in Wales.
In 2023 and 2024 (up to 31 July 2024), there have been a total of 286 cases of mpox reported in the UK. Of these, 269 were in England (116 cases were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 82 were acquired outside the UK and 71 are awaiting classification), 11 were in Scotland (7 were imported cases acquired outside the UK, 3 were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK and one is awaiting classification), one was in Wales (an imported case acquired outside the UK), and 5 were in Northern Ireland (one was presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, one was an imported case acquired outside the UK and 3 are awaiting classification).
Figure 1 shows the monthly number of cases in England in 2023 and 2024, where there were between one and 43 cases per month, compared to the monthly high of 1,339 cases in July 2022.
Figure 1. Number of confirmed and highly probable mpox cases in England, by month in 2023 and 2024
