The monkeypox virus belongs to the orthopoxvirus family, which includes the variola virus. It causes smallpox, and the vaccinia virus. Monkeypox has symptoms that are comparable to smallpox but are less severe.
The vaccination helped to eradicate smallpox worldwide in 1980. But monkeypox still exists in several nations in Central and West Africa, as well as elsewhere. The World Health Organization identified two distinct clades. They are the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade, often known as the Central African clade.
Zoonotic disease
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, meaning it spreads from infected animals to people. According to the WHO, infections occur near tropical rainforests that are home to virus-carrying animals. Squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and various monkey species are all infected with the monkeypox virus.
Human-to-human transmission, on the other hand, is narrow. According to the WHO, the longest documented chain of transmission is six generations. (https://allproshadeconcepts.com/) It means the last individual infected in this chain was six connections distant from the original sick person.
It is important to emphasize that monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the general public is very low,” Dr. Colin Brown, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Saturday.
Contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin, internal mucosal surfaces such as the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets, and infected items can all lead to transmission, according to the WHO.
Treatment and symptoms
Monkeypox is characterized by a fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, and weariness, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It also causes lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes), which smallpox does not. The World Health Organization emphasizes the need of distinguishing monkeypox from chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis, and medication-related allergies.
Monkeypox takes 7-14 days to incubate (from infection to symptoms), although it can take anywhere from 5 to 21 days. A rash appears on the patient’s face and spreads to other parts of the body within a day to three days of the commencement of fever. The skin eruption stage can continue anywhere from two to four weeks, during which time the lesions harden and become painful, fill up with clear fluid and later pus, and produce scabs or crusts.
The WHO says the proportion of patients who died in reported cases ranged from 0% to 11%. The proportion is higher among small children.
There is currently no safe and effective treatment for monkeypox. Depending on the symptoms, the WHO suggests supportive treatment. Awareness is crucial for infection prevention and management.
Monkeypox disease occurrence
According to the CDC’s monkeypox summary, the virus was initially found in 1958 after two outbreaks of a pox-like disease in laboratory monkey colonies. It led to the moniker “monkeypox.”
The first human case of smallpox was discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1970. It was during a period of increased efforts to eradicate the disease.
According to the WHO, human cases of monkeypox are in 15 countries across four continents.
The DRC (which has the world’s highest rate of infection), the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have all confirmed locally acquired cases.
Imported cases are now present in Africa’s South Sudan and Benin and the US, the UK, Israel, and Singapore.