ANNOUNCER: YOU ARE WATCHING WCVB NEWSCENTER 5 AT 5:30. JESSICA: FEDERAL HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE LOWERING THE ALERT LEVEL FOR THE VIRUS M-POX, WHICH HAS BEEN A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY IN THE U.S. SINCE LAST SUMMER. HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DR. BRIAN CHOW, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. ED: AS YOU KNOW, M-POX IS NOW THE NEW NAME FOR MONKEYPOX. AND UNTIL THE FIRST AMERICAN CASE WAS IDENTIFIED RIGHT HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS LAST MAY, MOST PEOPLE, INCLUDING A FEW DOCTORS, HAD NOT HEARD OF IT. WHAT ELSE MADE THIS OUTBREAK CHALLENGING? >> THIS EPIDEMIC PRESENTED VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN THE TEXTBOOKS WOULD HAVE. WE HAD TO MAKE SURE PATIENTS AND CLINICIANS RECOGNIZE THE DISEASE AND NEW HAD TO ACCESS TREATMENT AND VACCINES. VACCINE AND TREATMENTS WERE NOT WELL STUDIED FOR MPOX WHICH ADDED A PLAYER OF COMPLEXITY AND WE HAD TO MAKE SURE MESSAGES REACHED THE COMMUNITIES WHICH WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED. JESSICA: WE WANT TO LOOK AT THE LATEST CDC DATA. THE U.S. HAS IDENTIFIED MORE THAN 30,000 INFECTIONS IN THE U.S., AND 26 DEATHS, SINCE THE START. HOWEVER, THOSE CASE NUMBERS HAVE BEEN DROPPING STEADILY SINCE MID AUGUST. WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE TURNING POINT? >> VACCINATIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH MESSAGES ARE CRITICAL AS WELL AS GETTING PEOPLE DIAGNOSED AND TREATED. WE ARE ABLE TO DO THIS BY SPREADING THE WORD THROUGH SOME ALREADY VERY STRONG SOCIAL NETWORKS. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR DURING THIS OUTBREAK TO HELP CONTROL THE OUTBREAK FOR THE TIME IT TOOK TO GET THIS UNDER CONTROL. ED: THERE IS A VACCINE AVAILABLE BUT NOW THAT THE INFECTION RISK IS LOW AND STANDARDS ARE BEING PULLED OUT, IS THERE ANY REASON LEFT TO GET T? >> PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE FIRST DOSE SHOULD COMPLETE THE TWO DOSE SERIES. PEOPLE WHO ARE AT HIGHER RISK SHOULD CONSIDER BEING VACCINATED BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW WHETHER THIS WILL SURGE AGAIN IN THE NEAR FUTURE. ED: THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. JESSICA: IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE OUR EXPER