Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which is typically found in parts of central and western Africa — particularly in areas of tropical rainforest. But how did this disease get its name?
The monkeypox virus belongs to the same family as the causative agent of smallpox – one of the most devastating diseases affecting humanity, killing millions before a successful global vaccination campaign helped eradicate it.
Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and causes less serious illness, according to the World Health Organization, although it can lead to serious illness in a small proportion of cases. It is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans.
How did monkeypox get its name?
The monkeypox virus is found in several wild animals, including rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian opossums, dormouse and non-human primates, among others.
It was first identified following two outbreaks of a smallpox-like disease in Denmark in 1958 – hence the name – although monkeys do not appear to be the main carriers of the virus.
“The virus was discovered before the human disease in laboratory monkeys in Denmark that had a typical skin rash,” said Daniel Bausch, president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene news week.
“This led to the name of the virus and the disease, which actually turns out to be a misnomer, because monkeys are probably just like humans — an unfortunate dead-end host who occasionally gets infected, but isn’t part of keeping the virus in the virus.” nature,” he said.
According to Bausch, small mammals in West and Central Africa probably serve as a natural reservoir.
“Interestingly, the monkeys in the lab in Denmark were imported from Singapore, not Africa, and there is no evidence that monkeypox occurs naturally anywhere outside of Africa,” he said.
“However, the trade in non-human primates for laboratory use is global and complex. It is quite possible that these primates from Asia were at some point kept with animals from Africa, where transmission is likely to have taken place.”
After the outbreak in Denmark, additional cases of the disease outside of Africa were discovered in captive monkeys in the United States and giant anteaters at a zoo in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The anteaters are thought to have contracted the virus through previous contact with monkeys elsewhere.
When was the first human fall?
The first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970 – a nine-year-old boy in Basankusu, Équateur Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Since then, cases among people in the DRC have steadily increased and have been reported in several other African countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. Most infections have occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Outside of Africa, human cases of monkeypox are rare. When they did occur, they were usually people who had traveled to endemic areas or had come into contact with imported animals.
However, throughout 2022, multiple cases of the disease were identified in several non-endemic countries, including the United States. Many of these cases had no established travel links to endemic areas.
The first known human case outside of Africa was reported in 2003 – a three-year-old girl hospitalized in central Wisconsin following being bitten by a prairie dog. Rodents imported from Ghana are believed to have infected local prairie dogs, which then spread the disease to regarding 40 people.
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