The history of monkeypox in humans traces back to 1970s Africa, in a territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with patient zero being a 9-month-old boy. Before that, it was discovered in the 1950s in Denmark in two outbreaks in monkey research colonies. Despite its name, the source is unknown and is suspected to possibly be rodents alongside primates. That jump from animals to humans started an emergence of cases in central Africa.
Although it can be transmitted through contact between humans, the US outbreak in 2003 was linked to animals. The virus, a zoonotic disease, which means it can be spread between animals and people, is in the same family as smallpox, and the symptoms are skin rashes, muscle aches, headaches, low energy, mucosal lesions, and swollen lymph nodes. There are two types of the virus: clade I and clade II. The first one, which is more deadly, is responsible for most cases in central and eastern Africa, while the second is responsible for most cases in western Africa; this one is what caused the recent global outbreak. It has spread through close contact with someone or an animal that is infected with contaminated materials.
In 2022, another outbreak reemerged and made its way to Europe, and then rapidly spread on a global scale. Most cases traveled to Europe and North America. At the peak, around July 2022 to August 2022, there were a little over 30,000 US class II cases with 60 deaths. Now, there are much fewer cases, but it is still around with 1,700 cases in 2023 and 1,122 cases in 2024.
If someone has the virus and they are extremely ill, the drug tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, is available. In Mississippi, 111 people were infected throughout 2022-2023, but that was the peak, and now it has such a low level of transmission that it is not as much of a concern. It seems that the peak of the epidemic is over and will continue to subside, but a 2024 outbreak may prove otherwise.
This recent outbreak is 96% in the Congo and is not a global epidemic. Right now, in Africa, it is endemic: something that occurs only in a specific region. It is not a global crisis right now, but used to be one only a few years ago.
