Explainer: What is monkeypox and where is it spreading?

AP News

Health authorities in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia have identified more than 100 cases of monkeypox in recent days. 

Officials around the world are keeping watch for more cases because, for the first time, the rare disease appears to be spreading among people who didn’t travel to Africa, where monkeypox is endemic. They stress, however, that the risk to the general population is low.

WHAT IS MONKEYPOX?

Monkeypox is a virus that originates in wild animals like rodents and primates, and occasionally jumps to people. It belongs to the same virus family as smallpox.

Most human cases have been in central and west Africa and outbreaks have been relatively limited. 

The illness was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in research monkeys — thus the name monkeypox. The first known human infection was in 1970, in a young boy in a remote part of Congo.

WHAT CAUSED THIS LATEST OUTBREAK?

Health officials are still investigating, but a top adviser to the World Health Organization said this week that the leading theory is that monkeypox was likely spread after sexual activity at two recent raves in Europe.

Dr. David Heymann, who chairs WHO’s expert advisory group on infectious hazards, said monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with someone already infected with the disease, and that “it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission.

Authorities in countries including Britain, Spain, Germany and Portugal say most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, but experts emphasize that anyone can be infected through close contact with a sick person, their clothing or bedsheets. 

Scientists say it will be difficult to determine whether the spread is being driven by sex or merely close contact.

WHY ARE MOST OF THE CURRENT INFECTIONS OUTSIDE AFRICA IN MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN?

It’s unclear, but the disease is no more likely to infect gay and bisexual men than anyone else.

“This may just be unlucky that (monkeypox) happened to get into this one particular community first,” said Dr. Jake Dunning, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Oxford, who is also involved in treating cases in London. “It’s just that they are a community and by having sex with each other, that is how it’s spreading,” he said.

Other experts warn the disease could spread more widely if measures aren’t taken to stop the outbreak…