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Facts about monkey-pox virus

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7 years ago

October 5, 2017

Olu Emmanuel

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The outbreak of Monkeypox has been reported in two communities in Bayelsa State, South South Nigeria.

This calls for vigilance on the part of medical services responders, parents, children and students to the reality of the existence of the epidemic.

At the moment, about 11 people have been quarantined, including a medical doctors, while about 49 persons that have had contacts with the patients are been traced.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. The disease was first identified in laboratory monkeys, hence its name, but in its natural state it seems to infect rodents more often than primates.

The disease is indigenous to Central and West Africa. An outbreak that occurred in the United States in 2003 was traced to a pet store where imported Gambian pouched rats were sold.

Monkeypox virus is a zoonotic viral disease that occurs primarily in remote villages of Central and West Africa in proximity to tropical rainforests where there is more frequent contact with infected animals.

Monkeypox is usually transmitted to humans from rodents, pets, and primates through contact with the animal’s blood or through a bite. Human monkeypox can be difficult to distinguish clinically from smallpox (to which it is closely related) and chickenpox (to which it is not).

In addition to monkeys, reservoirs for the virus are found in Gambian pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus), dormice (Graphiurus sp) and African squirrels ( Heliosciurus , and Funisciurus).

The use of these animals as food may be an important source of transmission to humans.

Monkeypox as a disease in humans was first associated with an illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in the town of Basankusu, Équateur Province, in 1970.

ALSO SEE: Strange disease outbreak in Bayelsa

A second outbreak of human illness was identified in DRC/Zaire in 1996–1997. In 2003, a small outbreak of human monkeypox in the United States occurred among owners of pet prairie dogs.

The outbreak originated from Villa Park, Illinois , outside of Chicago, when an exotic animal dealer kept young prairie dogs in close proximity to an infected Gambian pouched rat ( Cricetomys gambianus ) recently imported from Accra, Ghana.

Seventy-one people were reportedly infected, of which there were no fatalities. A second African focus of infection has been discovered in Sudan . No infected patients died.

It was first identified in 1958 as a pathogen of crab-eating macaque monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis) being used as laboratory animals.

The virus is found mainly in tropical rainforest regions of central and West Africa.

The virus was first discovered in monkeys (hence the name) in 1958, and in humans in 1970. Between 1970 and 1986, over 400 cases in humans were reported.

Small viral outbreaks with a death rate in the range of 10% and a secondary human to human infection rate of about the same amount occur routinely in equatorial Central and West Africa.

The primary route of infection is thought to be contact with the infected animals or their bodily fluids.

The virus can spread both from animal to human and from human to human. Infection from animal to human can occur via an animal bite or by direct contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids. The virus can spread from human to human by both respiratory (airborne) contact and contact with infected person’s bodily fluids.

Risk factors for transmission include sharing a bed, room, or using the same utensils as an infected patient. Increased transmission risk associated with factors involving introduction of virus to the oral mucosa.

The Incubation period is 10–14 days.

Prodromal symptoms include swelling of lymph nodes, muscle pain, headache , fever , prior to the emergence of the rash .The rash is usually only present on the trunk but has the capacity to spread to the palms and soles of the feet, occurring in a centrifugal distribution.

Morbidity and mortality, Symptoms and course

In humans, monkeypox is similar to smallpox, although it is often milder. Vaccination against smallpox is assumed to provide protection against human monkeypox infection considering they are closely related viruses and the vaccine protects animals from experimental lethal monkeypox challenge.

Prevention and treatment

Currently, there is no proven, safe treatment for monkeypox. Smallpox vaccine has been reported to reduce the risk of monkeypox among previously vaccinated persons in Africa.

The decrease in immunity to pox viruses in exposed populations is a factor in the prevalence of monkeypox. It is attributed both to waning cross-protective immunity among those vaccinated before 1980 when mass smallpox vaccinations were discontinued, and to the gradually increasing proportion of unvaccinated individuals.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that persons investigating monkeypox outbreaks and involved in caring for infected individuals or animals should receive a smallpox vaccination to protect against monkeypox.

Persons who have had close or intimate contact with individuals or animals confirmed to have monkeypox should also be vaccinated.

The people who have been infected can be vaccinated up to 14 days after exposure. CDC does not recommend preexposure vaccination for unexposed veterinarians, veterinary staff, or animal control officers, unless such persons are involved in field investigations.

Public health education

Close physical contact with monkeypox infected people should be avoided
Gloves and protective equipment should be worn when taking care of ill people.
Regular hand washing should be carried out after caring for or visiting sick people.
Thoroughly cook all animal products before eating.
Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing should be worn while handling sick animals or their infected tissues, and during slaughtering procedures.

Controlling infection in healthcare settings

Healthcare workers and those treating or exposed to patients with monkeypox or their samples should consider being immunized against smallpox via their national health authorities.