Mpox virus

Background

Microbiology

• Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is in the genus Orthopoxvirus and family Poxviridae

Epidemiology

• Zoonotic disease endemic to west and central Africa
  • Hosts include non-human primates and prairie dogs, squirrels, and possibly other rodents
  • Endemic countries include DRC (most common), Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, and South Sudan
• Human infection is associated with animal trapping, hunting, and skinning, and other exposures to animals including bites, feces, urine, or respiratory droplets
  • Global outbreaks may happen with the global trafficking in exotic pets
• Human-to-human transmission possible, but less than smallpox

Clinical Manifestations

• Clinically indistinguishible from smallpox, though may have much more pronounced lymphadenopathy
• Incubation period about 12 days
• Fever, rash, lymphadenopathy (cervical, submandibular, and sublingual)
• Mortality 1-10% (per WHO)

Management

Post-exposure prophylaxis

• ??smallpox vaccine??