Strategies Adopted by Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men to Prevent Monkeypox virus Transmission — United States, August 2022

On August 26, 2022, this report was posted as an MMWR Early Release on the MMWR website (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr). The first U.S. case of monkeypox during the current outbreak was confirmed on May 17, 2022 (1);on August 4, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency.* To date, most reported monkeypox cases in the United States and globally have occurred among men who reported sexual or close intimate contact with another man during the 3 weeks before symptom onset (2). The multipronged response to monkeypox has included expanding access to monkeypox vaccine and developing messaging^† for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking to reduce their chances for acquiring monkeypox. During August 5–15, 2022, a monkeypox-specific follow-up survey was completed by a convenience sample of 824 MSM who responded to the annual American Men’s Internet Survey (AMIS).^§ Overall, 48% of respondents reported reducing their number of sex partners, 50% reported reducing one-time sexual encounters, and 50% reported reducing sex with partners met on dating apps or at sex venues since learning about the monkeypox outbreak. Nearly one in five respondents reported receiving ≥1 dose of vaccine to prevent monkeypox. Receipt of vaccine was highest among Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) men (27.1%) and lowest among non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) men (11.5%);17.7% of non-Hispanic White (White) men and 24.2% of men of other race or ethnicity received vaccine. Receipt of vaccine was higher in urban (27.8%) and suburban (14.5%) areas than in other areas (5.7%–7.0%).