Key Points

• From January 1 to July 31, 2026, 320 cases of smallpox B (mpox) were reported, including 15 without laboratory confirmation.
• Among the cases for which the clade could be identified, 76% (187/246) belonged to clade Ib, compared with 24% (59/246) to clade IIb.
• The reported cases involved 283 males (88%) and 37 females (12%). With the exception of 2 cases in children (<15 years old), all reported cases were adults with a median age of 34 years. More than one-third resided in Île-de-France (134/317, 42%); 21% resided in the Indian Ocean departments (45/317 in Mayotte and 23/317 in Réunion); 8% in the Grand Est region (25/317), and 7% of cases resided in the PACA region (22/317).
• In terms of risk exposures, 33% of documented cases (101 out of 310) reported contact with a case within the 3 weeks prior to the onset of their symptoms. Of the 76 men who reported contact with a case, 59 (78%) indicated that the contact was a sexual partner. Among cases for which travel history was available, 35% (105/301) had traveled abroad in the three weeks prior to the onset of their symptoms, primarily to Europe (including 19 to Spain, 6 to Germany, and 5 to Belgium) or to sub-Saharan Africa (including 50 in Madagascar, 5 in Côte d’Ivoire, and 3 in Guinea).
• Among the 310 cases for which this information was available, 32 (10%) were hospitalized, primarily for the management of severe pain (n=24 cases) and/or generalized rashes (n=18 cases).
• Regarding vaccination status, when known, 78% (200/258) had not received any vaccine doses since May 2022. Among the 58 vaccinated cases, 21 had received only one dose (including 4 with a history of vaccination prior to 1984), 25 had received two doses (including 2 with a history of vaccination before 1984), and 5 had received three doses. The number of doses received since 2022 was unknown for 7 cases.