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Monkeypox Virus Spreading all over the World

The Cheongdae Times Senior Reporter of Culture Affair Jin-Hyeong Jo

On May 6, 2022, the Monkeypox virus spread worldwide. The Monkeypox virus was first named after monkeys were discovered to cause symptoms similar to human smallpox in 1958. It is an infectious disease that spreads between humans and animals, similar to smallpox, and is endemic to Central and West Africa.

In fact, this is not the first time that the monkeypox virus has spread. In 2003, 47 people in six U.S. states were infected with the monkeypox virus, but fortunately, there were no deaths. It first began with rodents brought from Accra, Ghana’s capital, to Texas, the United States, and the rodents spread from place to place, infecting several people.

However, this is the first time that such infections have been identified simultaneously in dozens of countries other than Central and West Africa, which are endemic areas for 50 years after the first discovery of the monkeypox virus. In contrast to the CDC’s claim that the spread was not community transmission even at the time of the 2003 spread in the U.S, the ongoing “2022 monkeypox virus outbreak” has already begun to spread to communities in the UK, UKHSA announced.

As of May 26, hundreds of monkeypox infections occurred in 20 countries on five continents, excluding Central and West Africa, which were endemic areas. As many infected people are known to have no history of visiting Africa, the route of infection is unclear.

Professor David Hyman of the WHO said the virus had already penetrated the UK two to three years ago, and it would have been circulating at low rates in Britain, Europe, and other neighboring countries before it spread rapidly, and it could have spread by accident.

It is mainly spread through physical contact with an infected person and is spread through lesions and droplets at a low probability. The U.S. CDC explained that it is most likely to be transmitted when a rash occurs in the body, and that it is more likely to be contacted mainly through skin or wounds, and that it is recommended to avoid close contact with infected people.

This is a measure to calm concerns that cases of droplet infection are extremely rare and could spread to a large-scale epidemic like COVID-19.

The main symptoms are similar to smallpox, and most of them have a rash. The lethality is known to be around 3 to 6 percent. In addition, there is currently no treatment exclusively for the virus, and about 85% of prevention effects can be obtained by using antiviral drugs or smallpox vaccines.

Currently, an outbreak in Korea has not yet been reported, but since May 2022, the number of patients has increased in various countries and continents such as Europe and North America, not in the existing endemic area, raising concerns about the possibility of inflow into Korea.