Monkeypox Outbreak: A New Mystery

(Please note: Statistics may or may have changed depending on the date you read this article.)

For most people, the Covid-19 pandemic would be stressful enough. But recently, there’s another outbreak in some parts of the world, which doesn’t usually happen.

The outbreak in question is of an infectious viral disease known as monkeypox. It is usually found only in parts of Africa, though occasionally, it could spread to other countries. The strange thing about this outbreak is that many countries reported large numbers of cases simultaneously. The World Health Organization said that the monkeypox virus has spread to more than 20 countries. The European Union has confirmed 118 cases, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. According to the U.K. Health Security Agency, the United Kingdom has identified ninety. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has confirmed 9 cases spread out over seven states. The WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove says that more are likely to be reported as surveillance of the monkeypox virus expands, adding the recent spread is containable. Other health officials have also expressed that the general public should be safe from the virus. So why is it happening right now, and what are monkeypox and its symptoms?

Monkeypox is an orthopoxvirus and is closely related to the eradicated virus smallpox. It was first discovered in 1958 when a pox-like virus got detected in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence monkeypox the name. Despite its name, monkeys were only where the disease was first detected, not that it originated from monkeys. Its exact origins to this day are still unclear. The first human case of this virus got recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970. Since then, repeated cases of monkeypox have gotten reported in Central and West Africa. The time of exposure till the onset of symptoms is usually 7-14 days, and symptom duration is typically two to four weeks. Some early symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pains, and feeling very tired. Typically there are swollen lymph nodes behind the ear, below the jaw, etc. That’s followed by a rash, forming blisters and crusts. Other diseases like Covid enter the body through the respiratory system. Monkeypox could also spread that way. It could also spread through a bite or scratch from an infected animal and close social contact. Severe illness is rare, and, depending on the different strains, the mortality rate also varies. The Congo strain is reported with mortality rates up to 10%, while the West African one has fatal outcomes in about 1% of cases.

And why an outbreak right now? Some people suspect that when smallpox got eradicated, so people stopped getting smallpox vaccines, monkeypox had less resistance when getting into the human body. Because the two are related, the smallpox vaccine also provides immunity to monkeypox at an efficiency of 85%. After the vaccination stopped, our bodies lost that immunity, which allowed the disease to swing back.

No matter what made monkeypox come back, most people would agree with me: Covid is enough to worry about, not to mention another virus to prevent. And I do hope that you can stay safe from both. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you, and tune in next time for more global updates.