Background: Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, a double-stranded DNA-enveloped virus that can be transmitted from animal to human or human to human. Consequently, it emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health. Based on available online literature, this study reviewed the majority of the data representing the outbreak, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of monkeypox.
Methods: The literature search was conducted between July 5 and September 15, 2022. In addition to reviewing the databases of World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Africa CDC, and United Kingdom Health Security Agency monkey pox advice, 43 papers were studied in depth.
Results and discussion: Human monkeypox was first identified in 1970 in a child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Until May 6, 2022, it was endemic in West and Central African countries and infrequently occurred outside of Africa. However, many cases have been identified in several nonendemic countries since May 13, 2022, with no prior human or animal travel from endemic areas; that was the first time to document the cases and long-term transmission in countries with no epidemiological ties to endemic African countries. Seven travel-related human monkeypox cases were recorded outside of Africa from September 2018 to November 2021: one in Israel, one in Singapore, and two in the US Youth are most affected. Monkeypox's unanticipated development in places with no known epidemiological linkages raises concerns about the virus's evolution, which permits undetected transmission for a long period.
Conclusion: Monkeypox is no longer a rare, self-limiting disease limited to endemic countries. Its ever-changing epidemiology and transmission dynamics have increased the possibility of its evolving into a much deadlier pathogen. Therefore, improved surveillance and detailed case and contact investigation are required to comprehend the ever-changing epidemiology of monkeypox.
Keywords: endemic; monkeypox; outbreak; transmission; virus.
© 2022 The Authors. Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.