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How monkeypox spreads: 5 ways to understand the disease

Monkeypox virus (monkeypox), which causes concern with the emergence of cases in many different countries, can occur with many different symptoms in the body. Here's what you need to know...

The monkeypox virus (monkeypox) has caused great concern with its occurrence in various parts of the world, including Portugal, England, the United States and Italy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a global call to trace contacts and contain the spread of the epidemic.

Monkeypox is one of the most prominent viruses to infect humans. Monkeypox is a rare, usually mild infection that is typically transmitted from infected wild animals in parts of Africa. It was first discovered in monkeys hired for research in 1958. The first human case was detected in 1970.

Known since the middle of the last century, the virus is quite common in parts of Africa. It is known that the virus, which initially spread through direct contact with sick monkeys and rodents, has turned into an endemic epidemic since the 2000s.

Monkeypox is an endemic infection in many African countries and is spread between humans through saliva or respiratory tract or physical contact with pus from the lesions and scabs it causes. Viral excretion through feces is another route of infection that causes epidemics in areas of poor hygiene.

5 symptoms of monkeypox

Monkeypox symptoms occur as a milder form of smallpox. Common symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and back pain, chills, and fatigue.

There is also a skin rash that starts on the face and spreads to other parts of the body, especially the hands, feet and genital area. Then sores form. The incubation period is usually between 6 and 13 days, and discomfort occurs early in the infection. Then the itching begins. In addition, the development of swollen lymph nodes stands out as a feature that distinguishes infection with monkeypox from smallpox.

The disease lasts from 2 to 4 weeks with a low percentage of hospitalization, and the greatest contagiousness occurs when the sores burst with a discharge of pus. When they recover, patients are no longer contagious.

Can monkeypox cause a pandemic?

It is known that most of those infected with the monkeypox virus are young men who have not been in contact with smallpox before. For this reason, experts recommend applying the smallpox vaccine to contacts.

Health authorities also state that suspected cases should be isolated, tested and reported quickly, in addition to contact tracing.

Although there are epidemics affecting hundreds of people in Africa, it is estimated that it is unlikely to reach pandemic dimensions as in the coronavirus. The pandemic capacity of the monkeypox virus is known to be low.