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Review
. 2023 Apr 26:14:1094794.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1094794. eCollection 2023.

Monkeypox: a global health emergency

Ruxandra Ilinca Stilpeanu  1   2 , Ana Maria Stercu  1   2 , Andreea Lucia Stancu  3 , Antoanela Tanca  1   2 , Octavian Bucur  1   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Monkeypox: a global health emergency

Ruxandra Ilinca Stilpeanu et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Over the past 2 years, the world has faced the impactful Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with a visible shift in economy, medicine, and beyond. As of recent times, the emergence of the monkeypox (mpox) virus infections and the growing number of infected cases have raised panic and fear among people, not only due to its resemblance to the now eradicated smallpox virus, but also because another potential pandemic could have catastrophic consequences, globally. However, studies of the smallpox virus performed in the past and wisdom gained from the COVID-19 pandemic are the two most helpful tools for humanity that can prevent major outbreaks of the mpox virus, thus warding off another pandemic. Because smallpox and mpox are part of the same virus genus, the Orthopoxvirus genus, the structure and pathogenesis, as well as the transmission of both these two viruses are highly similar. Because of these similarities, antivirals and vaccines approved and licensed in the past for the smallpox virus are effective and could successfully treat and prevent an mpox virus infection. This review discusses the main components that outline this current global health issue raised by the mpox virus, by presenting it as a whole, and integrating aspects such as its structure, pathogenesis, clinical aspects, prevention, and treatment options, and how this ongoing phenomenon is being globally approached.

Keywords: ACAM2000; modified vaccinia Ankara; monkeypox; mpox; smallpox; tecovirimat; zoonotic disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the manuscript was developed in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of mpox. This figure was created with GoodNotes and adapted from Lu et al. (2022).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Transmission of mpox. This figure was created with GoodNotes and adapted from Wang et al. (2021).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved drugs for the treatment of both smallpox and monkeypox virus infections (A,B); Tecovirimat; (C) Cidofovir; (D) Brincidofovir. This figure was created with GoodNotes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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