What is happening
Smallpox is already endemic in some countries. Now, cases are emerging in many places that do not normally report the disease.
Why it matters
It is not a new disease in the United States, but smallpox outbreaks in more countries pose a threat to public health.
What does this mean for you?
Anyone who has been in close physical contact with someone with an active case of monkeypox can get the disease. If you have symptoms or think you may have been exposed to monkeypox, seek medical attention.
Cases of monkeypox are spreading to North America, Europe and other regions where the disease is not normally endemic, raising concerns that the current outbreak continues to grow and that monkeypox has spread from more broadly for a while.
“Investigations are ongoing, but the sudden appearance of monkeypox in many countries at the same time suggests that there may be undetected transmission for some time,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. , in an information session earlier this month.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 2 travel alert for monkeypox, which means travelers should be wary of monkeypox outbreaks. This includes avoiding close contact with sick people, avoiding the meat of wild or game animals, and seeking medical attention immediately if you think you are exposed to or have symptoms of monkeypox.
In the U.S., there are at least 31 cases of monkeypox in 13 states, according to the CDC. The United States confirmed its first case of monkeypox in mid-May, joining the list of other countries that do not normally report cases of the disease (ie, countries where monkeypox is not endemic). According to the CDC, some cases of current smallpox have been reported in men who have sex with men, and some cases have occurred in people living in the same household as the person with smallpox.
Smallpox is a disease caused by an orthopoxvirus, and the virus that causes it belongs to the same family as the viruses that cause smallpox and smallpox. Smallpox is endemic to West and Central Africa. Reports of this are rare in the US, but not unheard of. (Last year there were two reported cases and 47 cases in 2003 in an outbreak related to prairie dogs).
“With the number of cases being diagnosed in other countries, it was only a matter of time before there was a case in the United States,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior researcher at Johns Hopkins. Health Security Center.
Adalja said scientists are trying to “find out what’s going on epidemiologically” to explain why the outbreaks look different from other outbreaks that have occurred outside of Africa, where most cases have been concentrated.
“I think it’s something to watch and see how extensive the spread can be, but there’s no reason to be alarmed or panic about anything,” Adalja said. Smallpox is not new, he added, and we already have some tools to stop the spread, including smallpox vaccines.
This is what we know.
The monkey’s smallpox got its name because it was first detected in monkeys that were kept for research.
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What is the smallpox of the monkey? How serious is it?
Smallpox is a zoonotic disease, meaning it is transmitted from animals to humans. It is caused by an orthopoxvirus, which also causes smallpox, although smallpox is considered clinically more severe than monkeypox.
According to the World Health Organization, there are two “clades” of the monkeypox virus, including the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade. The West African strain, which has been identified in recent cases, according to a WHO presentation on May 26, has a mortality rate of less than 1%. The Congo Basin or Central African clade has a higher mortality rate of up to 10%, according to the World Health Organization.
Smallpox was first discovered in the 1950s in monkey colonies that were being investigated, according to the CDC, but it has also been found in squirrels, rats, and other animals. The first human case was discovered in 1970.
How is the monkey’s smallpox transmitted?
Smallpox smallpox is spread among people primarily through contact with infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids, according to the CDC, but it can also be spread through prolonged face-to-face contact through respiratory drops or touching contaminated clothing or bedding.
Speaking at a media conference on Wednesday, Tedros said most cases of the recent outbreak have been reported in men who have sex with men, who have been presented to symptomatic sexual health clinics. The close contact you have with a sexual partner can expose you to the monkey’s smallpox, and the current outbreak is related to social media or sexual activity in some communities.
Gay and bisexual communities tend to have a “high awareness and rapid health-seeking behavior when it comes to their sexual health and that of their community,” said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regional director of the ‘WHO for Europe, in a statement on Tuesday. , noting that those who requested early medical care services should be applauded.
But anyone can be infected with monkeypox. “Close” in close contact is a key element in the transmission of smallpox.
“It’s not a situation where if you pass someone in a grocery store, you run the risk of suffering from monkey pox,” said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Pathogens and Pathology Division. Consequences, in an information session in May. with the CDC.
Since many of the recent cases of monkeypox in Europe have caused damage to the genital area and look like symptoms of sexually transmitted infections such as herpes, you should ask to be evaluated if you have an unexplained rash in your genitals. genital area, Dr. John Brooks, an epidemiologist with the HIV / AIDS Prevention Division, said in a briefing to the CDC media in May.
Smallpox versus smallpox: How contagious are they?
The symptoms of monkeypox in humans are similar (but milder than) to smallpox, which the WHO declared eliminated in 1980.
A monkeypox infection usually begins with flu-like symptoms, which include fatigue, severe headache, fever, and swollen lymph nodes. Within one to three days after the development of the fever, according to the CDC, a rash usually develops (historically, it started on the face before it spread, but this is not always the case). The lesions of the rash or smallpox of the monkey may be flat or elevated, filled with clear or yellowish liquid and eventually dry out and fall off.
The disease usually lasts between two and four weeks. The incubation period is between five and 21 days, according to the CDC.
It is important to note that Adalja said: “The smallpox of the monkey is not contagious during the incubation period, so it does not have this ability to spread in the way that certain viruses such as the flu or SARS can become. -CoV-2 “.
Monkeypox lesions progress through a series of stages before crusting, according to the CDC. The rash of the monkey’s smallpox traditionally begins in the face before spreading to other areas of the body, the lesions may appear all over the body or only in the genital region, according to a CDC health alert.
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Is there a vaccine against monkeypox?
Yes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved JYNNEOS to prevent smallpox and smallpox. Because monkeypox is closely related to smallpox, smallpox vaccines are also effective against smallpox. In addition to JYNNEOS, the United States has another smallpox vaccine in its reserve, called ACAM2000.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is adding an additional 36,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to its reserves, Reuters reported Monday. Vaccines can be given to people who have high-risk exposure to monkeypox, CNBC reports, and are not being given to the general public.
In the UK, vaccines have been offered to people at higher risk for people with smallpox. This type of targeted vaccination is what Adalja calls “ring vaccination”, where health officials isolate the infected person and vaccinate their close contacts to stop the spread. Smallpox antivirals would also have a smallpox impact, he said.
Dr. Daniel Pastula, head of neuroinfectious diseases and associate professor of neurology, medicine, and epidemiology at Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado, said the vaccine is used in people who have been exposed but still have no symptoms of smallpox. of the monkey. , because the incubation period of the disease is very long.
“Basically, what you’re doing is stimulating the immune system with the vaccine and getting the immune system to recognize the virus before the virus has a chance to increase,” Pastula said.
Although it is recommended that health and laboratory professionals working directly with smallpox vaccine receive smallpox vaccines (and even booster vaccines), the original smallpox vaccines are not available to the general public and are not available. they have been widely administered in the United States since the early 1970s. Therefore, any “cross-protection” spill or immunity from smallpox vaccines would be limited to the elderly, the WHO said. According to the WHO, smallpox vaccination has been shown to be approximately 85% effective in preventing smallpox.
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