Monkeypox

In News

• Several cases of monkeypox have been reported from the United Kingdom by health agencies.
  • As per the WHO the cases are found close to tropical rainforests where there are animals that carry the virus.

Monkeypox

• About: 
  • Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
  • Monkeypox is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
  • The clinical presentation of monkeypox resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980.
• Symptoms:
  •  Monkeypox typically has the following symptoms:
    • Fever
    • Rash and swollen lymph nodes
    • Headaches and nausea
• Transmission:
  • Monkeypox virus is mostly transmitted to people from wild animals such as rodents and primates, but human-to-human transmission also occurs.
  • Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
• Outbreaks:
  • The first case of monkeypox was reported in 1958 in monkeys and in humans in 1970 in the western Africa.
  • Nigeria witnessed the biggest outbreak of the disease in 2017.
  • Thereafter, the disease has been reported in many countries including the USA, Singapore, UK.
• How is it different from smallpox?
  • The main difference between symptoms of smallpox and monkeypox is that the latter causes lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy) while smallpox does not.

Source: IE