urse Gabby Monk administers a dose of the monkeypox vaccine on July 23, 2022 in London, England.

urse Gabby Monk administers a dose of the monkeypox vaccine on July 23, 2022 in London, England. Hollie Adams/Getty Images

What You Should Know about Monkeypox

Amid a steady rise in monkeypox cases worldwide, an expert explains how the virus is transmitted, who is at risk, and how vaccines can control the spread.

Monkeypox, a smallpox-related virus endemic to parts of Central and West Africa, has now emerged in 74 countries, with nearly 2,900 confirmed cases in the US.

The growing number prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare monkeypox a global health emergency, as it did for COVID-19 in 2020.

With more than 16,800 cases globally, some scientists are calling the monkeypox outbreak a pandemic, albeit with a far lower mortality rate than the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disease often starts with fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes—symptoms similar to those of many other illnesses. But monkeypox is marked by raised, pus-filled blisters that dot the skin and is transmitted through direct exposure to the rash, scabs, or bodily fluids, including respiratory droplets.

It is also transmitted by close physical contact with items that touched the rash and are contaminated with virus, such as clothing and bedding.

“This is a known disease presenting in places where it’s not usually found, and in a way that was not immediately raising suspicion for monkeypox,” says Felicia Nutter, assistant professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University who specializes in wildlife health and infectious disease ecology and zoonoses.

“There has been testing and diagnosis, and also activation of public health measures to be able to access vaccine stockpiles. We need much more widespread testing and vaccination to address this disease.”

Nutter has worked as a wildlife veterinarian in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and is currently part of the STOP Spillover project with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Here, she explains what you should know about the current monkeypox outbreak, including how it’s transmitted and who is at risk:

Q: How does this outbreak differ from past monkeypox outbreaks?

A: Monkeypox is usually found in multiple countries in Central and West Africa, where it is transmitted from the natural wildlife hosts (likely rodents) to humans. There is diagnosis and tracking of annual cases in those countries that could number in the hundreds. Because of travel between those countries and others, monkeypox sporadically shows up in places where it is not usually found. Usually, there have been single cases diagnosed because somebody was exposed to monkeypox in a country where it’s normally found then traveled to a country where being diagnosed is not typical.

What’s different about this outbreak is that there has been sustained community transmission of the disease before it was diagnosed. Also, this specific monkeypox virus appears to be from the group known to be less severe, the West African clade, and has a lower case fatality rate than the more severe Central African clade monkeypox.

The way that it’s showing up is also not the classical description of monkeypox. There aren’t a lot of lesions, but rather a few scattered lesions.

Q: Who is most at risk for contracting the virus?

A: It is important to know that anyone can be infected with monkeypox. If you’re in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox, you’re at risk. It’s a viral disease that spreads through close contact. So that means being in physical contact with somebody who has the disease or anything they’ve touched for a prolonged period, if they have an active lesion. For example, if you’re doing laundry for someone who has monkeypox, you could be exposed.

Q: Can you explain why rates of infection are so much higher in Europe? England, Spain, and France have a combined five times the number of monkeypox cases as the US.

A: There are several possible reasons for that difference. Higher case counts could be because that’s where the community transmission first started, and this is what most experts think is happening. Contact tracing has shown what we call point sources, a single event or activity that resulted in the spread to a number of individuals who then went on to spread to additional individuals. That additional spread is what is called the sustained community transmission.

What always comes to mind is that there are higher case counts there compared to other places, but is it being looked for in other places? Is there an index of suspicion? Are people testing for it in other places or have they not started testing adequately? The WHO, CDC, other public health agencies, and news media are raising awareness, and we all need to pay attention and do our part.

Q: How does testing for monkeypox work?

A: It isn’t something that’s done in an urgent care clinic. And there’s no rapid test, like the one available for COVID-19, where you get the results in 15 minutes. This is a PCR test done in a referral lab, so samples are collected and sent off for testing. In the US, the CDC initially did all the testing, and now several major commercial laboratory companies also are running the tests.

Q: If you know you’ve been exposed, what can a vaccine do?

A: After exposure, yes, it can be a race between your immune system’s response to the vaccine and your body being affected by the virus. There are other well-known diseases for which we vaccinate in the face of exposure. Rabies is a classic one. If you’ve been bitten by a rabid animal or a suspected rabid animal, you get what is called post-exposure prophylaxis, and that includes a vaccine. By the time the rabies virus is slowly moving toward your central nervous system, the vaccine and your immune response is usually going to be effective and fight it off.

If you think you have been exposed to monkeypox, it is important to inform your doctor and get tested and possibly vaccinated as soon as possible. A monkeypox vaccine given within four days of exposure has the best chance of preventing disease, but even up to two weeks after exposure it can reduce the severity of the symptoms. It’s also important to follow any instructions from health care providers about self-isolation and other methods to reduce the risk of spreading monkeypox.

Q: Are there any myths about monkeypox that should be dispelled? For example, is monkeypox a sexually transmitted infection?

A: It’s important to be clear about the difference between how the virus is transmitted and the communities in which it was first detected in this current global outbreak. It is not a sexually transmitted disease like chlamydia or herpes. It’s transmitted by close physical contact, and sex is just one of many ways for close physical contact to happen.

There has been some confusion around sexual transmission, because the disease is primarily showing up in networks of men who have sex with men. There is appropriate concern about stigmatization and marginalization of people who are not getting appropriate care.

It’s shades of HIV and AIDS all over again, and we know we can’t go down that road, because it’s harmful to individuals, communities, and overall public health. It’s critical that we provide the right care to those who need it when they need it. The virus does not discriminate, and we shouldn’t either.

Source: Annie Young for Tufts University

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.