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Monkeypox, an extremely rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus, seems to be making a reappearance in recent times. While the disease certainly has the chance to lead to serious complications, monkeypox was practically eradicated following mass smallpox vaccinations, and will most likely be controlled now as well.

However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, many are understandably apprehensive of new viral diseases and their viability to start another outbreak. Therefore, we have answered a list of questions to put your mind at ease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease, which means that it has jumped from an animal to humans. It occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, with recent cases having shown up in the UK, Portugal, Spain, US, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and suspected in a slew of other countries.

India has not recorded any case, as of yet.

Smallpox vaccines have been shown to be 85% effective against monkeypox, and they played a major role in its eradication in the 1980s. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), JYNNEOS (also known as Imvamune or Imvanex) is an attenuated live virus vaccine which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of monkeypox, although it is still under approval from other bodies.

Samples are taken from lesions or dry crusts from an infected person, and subsequent Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) tests are done in the laboratory to confirm the disease.

There is no specific treatment for monkeypox yet. The symptoms must be addressed and cared for individually to prevent complications.

However, when caring for infected patients, it is important to use personal protective equipment (PPE) and practice good hygiene, such as washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

There are two major strains of the monkeypox virus. The variant detected recently is the less severe one, with a mortality rate of about 1 in 100 people. The previous variant, however, resulted in 1 in 10 fatalities.

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