Volume 8
Number 1 January 2024Is Mpox (Monkey pox) a Public Health issue?
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70357/jdamc.2024.v0801.07
Tarafdar MA1
Abstract
Mpox (Monkeypox) in humans is a zoonotic disease that results in smallpox like symptoms. The monkeypox virus (MPXV) was first identified in 1958 in monkeys imported from Singapore and kept for research in Denmark when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred among monkeys kept for research. The first human case of mpox was recorded in 1970, currently from 2022, mpox spread around the world. Before that, cases of mpox in other places were rare and generally due to travel or to importation of animals from regions where mpox is endemic. WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), following the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee meeting on the 14th of August 2024. The objective of this review article is to provide an up-to-date, precise, and timely overview of Mpox (monkeypox), a severe communicable viral disease. This article of review also intended to provide an up-to-date epidemiology for Mpox. Since the elimination of smallpox, MPXV (The monkeypox) virus is one of the most virulent poxvirus for humans. It was mainly a disease mainly of central and west Africa, spreading throughout the globe since last few years. A better understanding of Mpox’s dynamic of transmission and epidemiology is needed to contain and eliminate through increased surveillance and identification of cases.
Keywords: Mpox, Zoonotic disease, Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
- Professor, Department of Community Medicine