People who have close contact with someone who has mpox are at risk of infection. Close contact includes skin-to-skin (such as touching or sex) and mouth-to-mouth, or mouth-to-skin contact (such as kissing), and can also include being face-to-face with someone who has mpox (such as talking or breathing close to one another, which can generate infectious respiratory particles).
The risk of mpox is not limited to people who are sexually active or gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Anyone who has close contact with someone who has symptoms is at risk and any person with multiple or new sexual partners is also at risk. Sex workers and their clients are also at risk.
Newborn babies, children, people who are pregnant and people with underlying immune deficiencies such as from advanced HIV disease may be at higher risk of more serious mpox disease and death.
People who have contact with clothing, bedding, towels, objects, electronics and other surfaces that have been touched by someone with mpox are also at risk.
Health workers should follow infection prevention and control measures to protect themselves while caring for patients with mpox (by wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and adhering to protocol for safely swabbing lesions for diagnostic testing and handling sharps such as needles).