Mpox and Travel in 2026: What UK Travellers Should Know

What is mpox, and why is it back in the news in 2026?

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral infection causing fever, swollen glands, and a distinctive blistering rash. There are two types: Clade 1, found mainly in central and east Africa and generally causing more severe illness, and Clade 2, found at low levels worldwide and behind most UK cases since 2022. Since late 2025, community transmission of a Clade 1 variant (clade Ib) has been reported not only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current epicentre, but in countries with strong travel links to the UK, including Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal. In response, the World Health Organization has extended its mpox Standing Recommendations, covering surveillance and vaccination guidance, through 20 August 2026.

How do you actually catch mpox while travelling?

Mpox spreads through close physical, skin-to-skin contact with someone's rash, blisters or scabs, including during sexual contact, kissing, or cuddling; touching contaminated items such as bedding, towels or clothing used by someone infected; being coughed or sneezed on at close range by someone with mpox; and, in parts of central and east Africa, contact with infected animals, usually rodents, through bites, handling their fur or body fluids, or eating undercooked bushmeat. Mpox has not been found in animals in the UK.

Who's at higher risk on a trip:

• Men who have sex with men with multiple partners, who participate in group sex, or who attend sex-on-premises venues
• Anyone with close, prolonged contact with a symptomatic person, regardless of gender or sexuality
• Travellers to central or east Africa who handle or eat bushmeat, or who have contact with rodents
• Healthcare or laboratory workers exposed through their work

What are the symptoms, and how soon after exposure do they appear?

Symptoms usually appear 5 to 21 days after exposure. Early signs include a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, chills, exhaustion, and joint pain; you may not get all of these. A rash usually follows 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms and can appear anywhere on the body, including the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, mouth, genitals and anus. It starts as raised spots, becomes fluid-filled blisters, then forms scabs. You can pass mpox on to others for as long as you have symptoms, until the scabs have fully healed.

Should you get the mpox vaccine before you travel?

We don't currently stock the mpox vaccine at Medway Travel Clinic, since it isn't part of the standard travel vaccination schedule. It's offered through NHS sexual health services to specific higher-risk groups: men who have sex with men who have multiple partners, participate in group sex, or attend sex-on-premises venues (staff at these venues may also be eligible), and people who've had or are likely to have close contact with a confirmed case. If either applies to you, especially before travel to a country with reported clade Ib transmission, speak to a sexual health clinic well before you go: find a sexual health clinic. For everyone else, the general precautions below remain your main protection, and it's still worth mentioning any travel-specific health concerns, mpox included, at your pre-travel consultation with us so we can look at the bigger picture alongside your other vaccines.

What can every traveller do to reduce the risk?

• Get vaccinated if you're offered the mpox vaccine through the NHS
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser
• Avoid close contact, within about a metre, with anyone who has an unexplained rash, blisters or sores
• Don't share bedding or towels with someone who may have mpox
• In central or east Africa, avoid wild or stray animals, including any that appear unwell or dead, and don't eat or handle bushmeat
• Talk to sexual partners about symptoms and sexual health, especially with new partners
• Watch for symptoms for 3 weeks after returning from an area with reported mpox transmission

What this looks like in practice

A man in his thirties came to see us before a fortnight in Portugal, on his way to onward business travel in West Africa, mainly to check his malaria tablets and routine jabs. Because of the current mpox situation, we talked through his full trip, not just the destination requiring vaccines: had he heard about the community transmission reported in parts of southern Europe, did any of his planned activities put him at higher risk, and did he know the early warning signs. He hadn't seen the news and was glad to know what to look out for and who to call if a rash appeared after he got home. That's often the value of a travel consultation: it isn't only about the jabs, it's about a genuine, current picture of what's circulating on your route.

Book your pre-travel health consultation in Medway

Medway Pharmacy Travel Clinic is at 465 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, ME7 5LJ, open seven days a week from 7:30am to 10pm, with same-day appointments usually available. Whatever your destination, our pharmacists will look at your full itinerary and personal risk factors, including current outbreak advice, alongside routine travel vaccines such as hepatitis B. Book a travel health appointment or call 01634 575805.

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