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August 2022, 106812
AmitSharma, Priyanka, Mathumalar LoganathanFahrni, Om PrakashChoudhary
Dear Editor,
After the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). According to WHO, PHEIC means an extraordinary event, which constitutes a public health risk to other States through the international spread, and which potentially requires a coordinated international response (WHO, https://worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/mpx_global). Since early May 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported from countries where the disease is not endemic, and continue to be reported in several endemic countries. Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease, caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV) and can occur in both humans and non-human primates. The disease often presents with flu-like symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes. Within several days, clusters of fluid-filled blisters typically appear all over the body, including on the face, and then these blisters break open and crust over [1].
... Despite its name, monkeys are not the main reservoir of the MPXV, the causative agent of this disease. Rather, the virus is thought to reside mainly in rodents, including squirrels and rats [1]. Although several species of rodents are suspected to be susceptible to monkeypox, the virus has only been isolated from wild animals twice, including from a chipmunk in 1985 in the DRC and from a dead baby mangabey in Côte d'Ivoire in 2012.
HHT (human-to-human transmission) of MPXV occurs when an individual comes into contact with an infected animal, person, or contaminated material [5]. In addition to entering the body through broken skin (including wounds invisible to the naked eye), the virus can spread largely through fluid or droplets into the mouth, nose, or eyes. Because these droplets are heavy and often unable to propagate more than a few feet, prolonged contact is required for person-to-person transmission. As a result, the ones at high risk are individuals who share a household with an infected individual, healthcare workers, and veterinarians who are likely to come into immediate and prolonged contact with infected humans or species of animals susceptible to the MPXV. ...