CDC’s Mpox Toolkit for Event Organizers

Large gatherings and social events are great opportunities for people to connect and enjoy themselves. They are also places where attendees may be crowded together, which can lead to close, prolonged, and frequent interactions between people. They may be associated with behaviors that contribute to the spread of mpox, like having sex with a new partner.

This toolkit provides public health advice to event organizers and professional staff involved in the planning and delivery of large gatherings and social events and is designed to help organize events safely. This toolkit can be a starting point for conversations between event organizers and local, tribal, state, and federal public health authorities. As an event organizer, you have an important opportunity to help people at your event learn about and prevent mpox.

Take Steps to Reduce the Spread of Mpox

By partnering with local health authorities, event organizers can play an important role in reducing the spread of mpox by providing accurate information and promoting disease prevention. You can plan your efforts by considering how participants will likely interact while at the event.

Disseminate accurate information

• You can find the most up-to-date information on mpox at: www.cdc.gov/mpox
• Share CDC’s Safer Sex, Social Gatherings, and Mpox guidance.
• Use messages to communicate with your attendees before, during, and after the event. Provide messages and content that are simple, available in relevant languages, and include visual content. The social media toolkit has sample posts about mpox testing, prevention, and treatment.

Pre-event:

• Engage with local health authorities to coordinate messages to help people enjoy the event while reducing their risk for mpox. Consider allowing health authorities to set up booths or tents to provide information and on-site services, such as mpox vaccination, if feasible and appropriate.
• Consider including mpox prevention information on registration forms and ticket purchasing pages.
• Share information on the event website and social media channels. This could include sharing interviews with trusted spokespersons featured on news websites, podcasts, and other media used by eventgoers.
• Use text blasts (i.e., SMS text messages from a single source sent to a large group of people simultaneously), email, and direct messages to participants.
• If relevant, include mpox information in newsletters and other media where your event may be advertised.
• If there is an event app, send push notifications to users. Integrate mpox information into the app.

During event:

• Consider the use of big screens, banners, posters (e.g., at entrances to the event, eye-level above urinals, or on the back of toilet stall and restroom doors) and talking points for stage announcements included in this toolkit.
• Encourage event talent (e.g., performers, musicians, DJs) to share non-stigmatizing, fact-based mpox prevention messages.
• If resources allow, work with popular apps to send messages about mpox prevention, including mpox vaccination, if on-site, to attendees during the event (known as geofencing).
• Engage and involve event staff and volunteers. Make sure they know how to share accurate mpox information if asked by an event participant.

Post-event:

• After the event, consider providing health information and guidance on your websites, social media accounts, and apps on how to recognize mpox symptoms and when to seek medical advice. Continue to underscore the importance of mpox vaccination.
• If an outbreak of mpox or another communicable disease does arise, cooperate with your local public health authorities and help them contact people who may have been exposed. If participants do not want to share this information, advise them to contact their close contacts directly.

Collaborate with Others

Pre-event:

• Work with your local health department.
  • Your local health authorities should be able to provide you up to date and accurate information about mpox and local mpox vaccine locations. They may also be able to help share messages and serve as a point of contact for testing, treatment, and vaccine information.
  • Consider reaching out to your local health department about hosting a vaccination site leading up to your event, during your event, or after your event.
  • You can also promote the CDC vaccine locator to encourage attendees to look for vaccine locations where they live and get vaccinated before attending the event.
• Engage with organizers of peripheral events, such as parties or theme nights, and local businesses, such as hotels, bars, night clubs, saunas, and sex-on-premises venues. Encourage them to share and post mpox prevention messages and vaccination promotion.

During event:

• Share resources on mpox testing, treatment, and vaccination.

Post-event:

• Highlight the symptoms of mpox and refer participants to the health department and other organizations that provide testing and treatment. Continue to underscore the importance of mpox vaccination.

Prevent and Control Mpox

Pre-event:

• Encourage both doses of mpox vaccine at least 6 weeks before the event. Attendees should get the second dose 4 weeks after the first dose. It takes 2 weeks after the second dose to be most protected.
• Share harm reduction messages to help attendees lower their risk of getting mpox.
• Review CDC’s Disinfecting Home and Other Non-Healthcare Settings
• Set up sufficient hand-washing facilities and hand sanitizers.
  • Ensure hand-washing facilities are available to attendees across the venue, and that information is provided to alert attendees about where they can wash or sanitize their hands.
• Distribute alcohol-based hand sanitizer at multiple sites across the venue, particularly near toilets and in food courts or near food trucks.

During event:

• Where appropriate, clean and disinfect the event premises regularly. For specifics, please review CDC’s webpage for Disinfecting Home and Other Non-Healthcare Settings.
• Allocate a private space in the event venue for attendees, volunteers, and staff who may start to show symptoms while they are attending the event. Collaborate with your local health department to ensure proper medical assistance is available to those who develop symptoms.

Post-event:

• Perform final clean and disinfection of premises and shared items.

Examples of Mpox Messages to Share

Key Messages—Pre-event:

• Mpox cases in the United States are down dramatically since the peak in the summer of 2022. This progress is due to the close collaboration between the LGBTQ+ community and public health organizations. Data show that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, as well as transgender and gender diverse people, changed behaviors to reduce the risk of getting mpox.
• Mpox vaccines have also been effective in reducing the spread of mpox. Many people got the mpox vaccine, which is effective at reducing the risk of getting mpox.
  • A CDC study found that there were 10 times more mpox cases in unvaccinated people compared to fully vaccinated people.
• Even though cases are down, the potential for mpox exposure and future outbreaks remains a concern. Let’s continue to protect our communities.
• You can protect yourself and other event goers by learning about and getting vaccinated for mpox before coming to [event name]. Go to [insert trusted source, e.g., www.cdc.gov/mpox ] to learn more.
• Getting two doses of the mpox vaccine before you are exposed to mpox provides the best chance to prevent disease.
• Get your second dose. Even if you received your first mpox vaccine dose months ago, you can and should get your second dose now.
• More than 1 million mpox vaccine doses have been given in the United States with no new or unexpected safety concerns.
• You have a choice! You can choose if you want an intradermal or a subcutaneous shot.
• Mpox spreads mostly through close, intimate contact with someone who has mpox. Learn more about how mpox spreads.
• Symptoms of mpox may include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and enlarged lymph nodes. A characteristic rash, which can appear like blisters or pimples, occurs a few days later. Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash.
• If you feel sick or have a new or unexplained rash, do not attend [event name] and see a healthcare provider.
• To help protect you and your community, follow the recommended prevention steps, and get vaccinated if you were exposed to mpox or are at higher risk of being exposed to mpox.

Key Messages—During event:

• Mpox is often transmitted through close, sustained physical contact, almost exclusively through sexual contact in the current outbreak. Learn more about protecting yourself.
• If you notice a new or unexplained rash or other mpox symptoms while at [event name], avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with other eventgoers and go directly to [designated private space at event venue where people can go if they start to show symptoms].
• We hope you are having a great time at [event name]. Remember, if you feel sick or have a new or unexplained rash, talk to a health care provider right away.
  • Symptoms of mpox may include flu-like illness with fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and enlarged lymph nodes. A characteristic rash, which can appear like blisters or pimples, occurs a few days later. Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Some people may only experience a rash.
• Consider minimizing skin-to-skin contact (including kissing, hugging, cuddling, or having sex) with someone with mpox and avoid contact with any rash you see on others.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially before eating or touching your face and after you use the bathroom.
• Even if you feel well, here are some ways to reduce your chances of being exposed to mpox if you are sexually active:
  • Take a temporary break from activities that increase exposure to mpox until two weeks after your second vaccine dose. This will greatly reduce your risk.
  • Limit your number of sex partners to reduce your likelihood of exposure.
  • Talk with your partner about any mpox symptoms and be aware of any new or unexplained rash or lesions on either of your bodies. If you or your partner has or recently had mpox symptoms or you have a new or unexplained rash anywhere on your body, do not have sex and see a healthcare provider. In some cases, symptoms may be mild, and some people may not even know they have mpox.
  • Be aware that mpox can also spread through respiratory secretions with close, face-to-face contact.
  • Remember to wash your hands, fetish gear, sex toys, and any fabrics (bedding, towels, clothes) after having sex. Learn more about infection control.
• Remember to include information on how participants should access health services if they think they have mpox symptoms.

Key Messages—Post-event:

• We hope you had a great time at [event name]. Remember, if you feel sick or have a new or unexplained rash, talk to a health care provider right away.
  • Symptoms of mpox may include flu-like illness with fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and enlarged lymph nodes. A characteristic rash, which can appear like blisters or pimples, occurs a few days later. Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Some people may only experience a rash.
• If you have been exposed or suspect you have been exposed to mpox but do not have symptoms, speak to your healthcare provider or health department about getting the vaccine.
• If you have symptoms of mpox, you should talk to your healthcare provider, even if you have been vaccinated.
• If you experience mpox symptoms, you should talk to your close contacts right away. Think about the people you have had close, skin-to-skin, or sexual contact with, including people you met through dating apps.
• Antiviral drugs used to treat mpox, such as tecovirimat (TPOXX), may be recommended for people who are more likely to get severely ill, like patients with weakened immune systems.
• Do not travel if you have mpox. Isolate at home or in another location until your symptoms are gone and your rash has healed; this means all scabs have fallen off and a fresh layer of skin has formed.
• If you have mpox and must travel:
  • Make sure that you do not have fever or respiratory symptoms such as sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough.
  • Cover your rash and wear a well-fitting facial mask.
• If you’re not already vaccinated against mpox, or you haven’t gotten your second dose, it’s not too late! Learn more about getting vaccinated and find a location near you.