Health officials report uptick in mpox infections in Wisconsin

Five Wisconsinites have been reported infected with mpox this year, and state health officials are recommending that people who might be at risk for the illness get vaccinated.

Mpox — previously known as monkeypox — is a viral illness that produces a rash, skin lesions, and fevers, aches or chills.

The virus isn’t common but can be serious, and is spread through intimate, face-to-face contact that includes talking or breathing closely, or through sustained skin-to-skin contact, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. It can also be spread through items that have been contaminated with fluids or sores from someone with mpox.

Since 2022 mpox has been circulating in the U.S. at low levels, according to DHS. For 2026, through May 26, 535 cases of mpox have been confirmed in the U.S, including the five people diagnosed in Wisconsin.  

The risk is low for the general public, DHS reported, but people who may be at higher risk for exposure to mpox should talk to healthcare providers about vaccination. DHS has recommended the mpox vaccine for higher risk people, including men who have had sex with men and who have had more than one sex partner in the last six months. 

Travel and sexual exposure elsewhere in the world are other risk factors, according to DHS. People who are in close contact with someone with mpox, including healthcare workers who are exposed, also are at higher risk.

To prevent mpox infection, DHS has recommended that people learn the symptoms of mpox, watch their own and their partners’ bodies for changes such as rashes or skin lesions, and have “open and honest conversations” with partners about mpox as well as about sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the virus responsible for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS.

“Anyone who thinks they were recently exposed to mpox should contact a health care provider to talk about whether they should get vaccinated,” DHS said in an announcement. “Monitor health for fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes and new, unexplained rashes and contact a health care provider if one occurs. People who become ill should avoid contact with others until receiving health care.”

More information on the virus can be found at the DHS web page for mpox or by contacting https://211wisconsin.communityos.org/.