Monkeypox now called mpox

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Naming of viruses:

• The naming of viruses is the responsibility of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). 
• Prior to the 2022 global monkeypox outbreak, there was already a process underway to reconsider the naming of all orthopoxvirus species, including monkeypox virus. 
• This will continue under ICTV leadership.
• The change of name, announced after a series of consultations with global experts, has been provoked by the racist connotations that “monkeypox” sometimes carries. 
• As per WHO, both names will be used simultaneously for one year while “monkeypox” is phased out, 

What is Monkeypox?

• Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
• Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
• With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health. 
• Monkeypox virus is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. 
• There are two distinct genetic clades of the monkeypox virus: the central African (Congo Basin) clade and the west African clade. 
• The Congo Basin clade has historically caused more severe disease and was thought to be more transmissible. 
• The geographical division between the two clades has so far been in Cameroon, the only country where both virus clades have been found.
• Various animal species have been identified as susceptible to monkeypox virus. This includes rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, non-human primates and other species.
• Animal-to-human (zoonotic) transmission can occur from direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals. 

• Human monkeypox was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• In fact, monkeypox, which was named in 1970 because the virus that causes the disease was first discovered in captive monkeys in 1958, does not have much to do with monkeys.

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