Human monkeypox: an emerging zoonosis

Lancet Infect Dis. 2004 Jan;4(1):15-25. doi: 10.1016/s1473-3099(03)00856-9.

Abstract

Human monkeypox is a rare viral zoonosis endemic to central and western Africa that has recently emerged in the USA. Laboratory diagnosis is important because the virus can cause disease that is clinically indistinguishable from other pox-like illnesses, particularly smallpox and chickenpox. Although the natural animal reservoir of the monkeypox virus is unknown, rodents are the probable source of its introduction into the USA. A clear understanding of the virulence and transmissibility of human monkeypox has been limited by inconsistencies in epidemiological investigations. Monkeypox is the most important orthopoxvirus infection in human beings since the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s. There is currently no proven treatment for human monkeypox, and questions about its potential as an agent of bioterrorism persist.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Africa / epidemiology
  • Animals
  • Bioterrorism
  • Child
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Disease Reservoirs*
  • Dogs
  • Exanthema / pathology
  • Exanthema / virology
  • Humans
  • Monkeypox virus / immunology
  • Monkeypox virus / isolation & purification
  • Mpox (monkeypox) / epidemiology*
  • Mpox (monkeypox) / pathology
  • Mpox (monkeypox) / prevention & control
  • Population Surveillance
  • Rabbits
  • Rats
  • Rodentia
  • Sciuridae*
  • Smallpox Vaccine / administration & dosage
  • Smallpox Vaccine / immunology
  • United States / epidemiology

Substances

  • Smallpox Vaccine