Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus (officially Monkeypox virus, MPXV, obsolete Orthopoxvirus simiae). Natural hosts of this virus are various rodents, including monkeys as false hosts.

The disease can also be transmitted to humans (zoonosis) and triggers a feverish, smallpox-like disease, which is usually much milder than smallpox. However, more severe disease progressions can also occur. A vaccination is available and reduces the risk of an outbreak or mitigates the course of the disease. Cases are almost exclusively men, most of them males who have sex with males (MSM).

A 2022 outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on 23 July 2022.