So far this year more than 25,000 monkey pox cases have been recorded across 88 countries.
Monkey pox is a viral disease first discovered in 1958 originating colonies of monkeys hence the name.
According to the world health organization in 1970 the monkey pox was identified in a nine-month-old boy in the democratic republic of congo, a region where smallpox has been eliminated this was the first case of human infection since then most cases have been reported from rural rainforest regions of the congo basin particularly in the democratic republic of the congo.
The monkey box virus is an envelope double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the orthopoxy virus genus of the poxviridae family.
Monkey pox is a viral zoonosis a virus transmitted from animals that are infected to humans with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients although it is clinically less severe symptoms of the monkeypox viral illness include feversz headache, body aches, lethargy and swallow nodes followed by the rash called the pox.
This is typically a blistering type rash which typically crusts later now various anal species have been identified as susceptible to monkeypox virus this includes rats, squirrels and non-human primates like monkeys animal-to-human transmission can occur from direct contact with the blood bodily fluid skin lesion of infected animals.
Human to human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory, secretions skin lesions of an infected person or recently contaminated objects.
Right now most transmission is occurring between humans through close skin to skin contact particularly during sexual intercourse mostly in men having sex with other men the diagnosis of monkeypox virus is through a polymerase chain reaction PCR and this is the preferred laboratory test just like in COVID-19.
The swab is taken on the skin lesions and the PCR will detect the presence of viral genetic material of the monkeypox virus. Now there are some other important differential diagnoses that must be considered when one presents with a similar type of rash and these include chickenpox measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies syphilis as well as medication associated allergies.
Currently there is no approved treatment specific for monkeypox, the smallpox virus is known to provide some protection against the monkeypox virus thus those who were inoculated against smallpox as a young child are thought to be less likely to develop a serious case of monkeypox later in life. right now there are two vaccines available in the united states to prevent monkeypox but not everyone is eligible to get one.
Monkey pox vaccination can be used to us Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and outbreak response PEP according to the CDC(centers for disease control and prevention).
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