Human Monkeypox Outbreak in the Non-endemic Countries - Should We be Concerned?

Abstract

When the world seems to be recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, emerging reports of Human monkeypox spreading to non-endemic countries resulted in another wave of global panic. Monkeypox is an orthopoxvirus in the same genus as variola (causative agent of smallpox) and vaccinia viruses (the virus used in the smallpox vaccine). Epidemiologic, animal, and molecular evidence suggests that there are two distinct strains of monkeypox in different geographic regions of Africa, as suggested by The strain isolated from West Africa is less virulent and lacks several genes present in the strain from Central Africa. Virulence differences between monkeypox virus isolate from West Africa and the Congo Basin. The natural reservoir of monkeypox has not yet been identified, though rodents are the most likely. After the eradication of smallpox in 1980, smallpox vaccination was stopped globally, thus making monkeypox the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.