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At the time of writing, the last outbreak of smallpox has reached 17 countries with 110 confirmed cases and 205 more suspicious cases. It’s a fast-moving story, so if you need to catch up on the latest news, here are the answers to some of the most pressing questions.
How is the monkey’s smallpox spread?
The first patient of the current outbreak had returned to the UK from trips to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. However, cases are now spreading among people who have not traveled to West or Central Africa, suggesting that local transmission is taking place.
Smallpox is usually spread by close contact and respiratory drops. However, sexual transmission (through semen and / or vaginal fluid) has been considered as a possible additional route. The World Health Organization (WHO) says: “Studies are needed to better understand this risk.”
Most cases of the current outbreak have been in young men, but the virus can be spread to anyone.
What are the symptoms?
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The first symptoms are similar to the flu, such as fever, headaches, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes.
Once the fever breaks out, a rash can develop, often starting in the face and then spreading to other parts of the body, most commonly the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
How deadly is the smallpox of the monkey?
Smallpox is mainly a mild, self-limiting disease that lasts for two to three weeks. However, in some cases, it can cause death. According to the WHO, the mortality rate “in recent times” has been around 3% to 6%. The West African monkeypox virus is considered to be milder than the Central African monkey virus.
Smallpox is more common in immunocompromised people, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, and in children. There have been no deaths from monkeypox in the current global outbreak, but according to the Daily Telegraph, a child in the UK is in intensive care with the disease.
Why is it called monkeypox?
Smallpox was first identified in laboratory monkeys (macaques) in Denmark in 1958, hence the name. However, monkeys do not appear to be the natural hosts of the virus. It is most commonly found in rats, mice, and squirrels. The first human case was observed in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Is chickenpox related to smallpox and chickenpox?
Chickenpox is related to smallpox – both are orthopoxviruses – but is not related to chickenpox. Despite the name, chickenpox is a herpes virus, not a poxvirus. (It is not entirely clear how “chicken” came to be in the name. In his 1755 dictionary, Samuel Johnson assumed that it was so named because it was not “very dangerous.”) full of pus). ) caused by chickenpox are similar in appearance to chickenpox.
Is it likely that the cases will continue to increase?
Cases are likely to continue to rise significantly over the next two to three weeks, but this is not another pandemic in progress. Monkeypox does not spread as easily as the SARS-CoV-2 airborne virus that causes COVID-19.
Has monkeypox evolved to be more virulent?
RNA viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, do not have the ability to check for errors in their genetic code each time they reproduce, so they tend to evolve faster. Monkeypox is a DNA virus, which has the ability to check for genetic errors every time it replicates, so it tends to mutate much more slowly.
The first genome sequence of the current outbreak (from a patient in Portugal) suggests that the virus is very similar to the smallpox strain of the monkey that was circulating in 2018 and 2019 in the UK, Singapore and Israel. Therefore, the current outbreak is unlikely to be the result of a mutated virus spreading better.
How is smallpox diagnosed diagnosed?
In the UK, swab samples taken from the patient are sent to a specialist laboratory that manages rare pathogens, where a PCR test is performed to confirm the monkey’s smallpox. The UK Health Security Agency has only one laboratory for rare and imported pathogens.
Is there a vaccine for that?
Smallpox vaccines, which contain the vaccine virus made in the laboratory, can protect against smallpox. However, the vaccine used to eradicate smallpox can have serious side effects, killing around one in a million vaccinated people.
The only vaccine specifically approved for monkeypox, Imvanex, is made by a company called Bavarian Nordic. It uses a form of vaccine that does not replicate, which causes fewer side effects. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency in 2019, but only for use in people 18 years of age and older.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the UK government will stock up on effective monkeypox vaccines. The UK currently has around 5,000 doses of smallpox vaccine, which is around 85% effective.
Are there any medications to treat it?
There are no specific medications to treat monkeypox. However, antivirals such as cidofovir and brincidofovir have been shown to be effective against poxviruses in animals and may also be effective against monkeypox infections in humans.
By Ed FeilProfessor of Microbial Evolution at the Milner Center for Evolution, University of Bath