Monkeypox Virus

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Monkeypox virus is a zootomic disease that can take host in a broad range.1 Most people from the tropical rainforest of the West and Central Africa are have been affected by the condition. Anyone who gets in contact with wild animals killed for food is also likely to be infected by the disease.1 Children and adults are relatively affected by the disease as long as they are in contact with an infected animal or human. In most cases, men are affected more than women. It is important to note that the virus is highly contagious and may take up to 4 days to manifest in a new host immediately after contact.1 Hospitalization should take place within 14 days around exposure.

A major human outbreak of Monkeypox virus was first identified in the 1970s in the in the Democratic Republic of Congo.1 However, sources claim that the disease was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks with pox-like characteristics were observed in a species that was instigated in Denmark.2 The spread of the disease has also been recorded in other places at sporadic levels. So far, the surrounding countries within the central and West Africa such a Cameron, Ghana, and Nigeria and the United States in Illinois and Wisconsin are the known hot spots.

The monkeypox virus occurs irregularly although it can have an adverse impact on the host due to widespread effect of the vesiculopustular rash within a short period.2 The first case of the disease was discovered in 1985 an ill African from the equatorial region of Congo. The second incident was revealed in 2012 in a dead infant mangabey in Cote d’Ivoire.2 As for humans, the first case was in 1970 in Congo with high infection and mortality rate and later in 2003 in the United States. In 2008 the U.S. banned the importation of African rodents.