The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) this Friday urged anyone at high risk of contracting mpox (monkeypox) to get vaccinated, following the increase in cases and the recent detection of an infection in San Francisco.
The last case reported in the north of the state occurred in an unvaccinated individual who had close contact with someone who had recently traveled abroad, to an area where mpox clade I circulates, the agency reported in a statement.
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This is the seventh case of mpox of the clade I variant, the most severe, identified in California since November 2024, and the first recorded in San Francisco.
Public health authorities are conducting heightened surveillance and contact tracing in order to identify any additional cases and prevent further transmission.
The infected individual was hospitalized and is in the process of recovery.
CDPH Director and California State Public Health Officer Erica Pan emphasized the importance of people at highest risk receiving both doses of the mpox vaccine, with summer travel and mass events approaching.
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Monkeypox is characterized by the appearance of rashes or skin lesions that are usually concentrated on the face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. Its transmission occurs from person to person and occurs mainly through prolonged close contact.
In California, cases of the clade II variant, the less severe, have also been recorded, with 14 cases weekly in 2026. Most of these infections in people who were not vaccinated.
