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Review
. 2023 May 5:14:1174223.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1174223. eCollection 2023.

Global transmission of monkeypox virus-a potential threat under the COVID-19 pandemic

Yang Wang  1 , Ping Leng  1 , Hao Zhou  1
Affiliations
Review

Global transmission of monkeypox virus-a potential threat under the COVID-19 pandemic

Yang Wang et al. Front Immunol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) cases have increased dramatically worldwide since May 2022. The Atlanta Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta CDC) had reported a total of 85,922 cases as of February 20th, 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, MPXV has emerged as a potential public threat. MPXV transmission and prevalence must be closely monitored. In this comprehensive review, we explained the basic characteristics and transmission routes of MPXV, individuals susceptible to it, as well as highlight the impact of the behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) and airline traveling on recent outbreaks of MPXV. We also describe the clinical implications, the prevention of MPXV, and clinical measures of viral detection.

Keywords: airline travel; detection; monkeypox virus; transmission; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

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

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Animals, like rodents, dogs, and non-human primates, can spread MPXV to humans (cartoons modified from the SciDraw website). Respiratory droplets, vertical transmission, contact with contaminated items, and unprotected sexual behavior enable MPXV to transmit between humans.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Geographical distribution of confirmed and suspected monkeypox cases until February 20th, 2023 (Atlanta CDC). (B) Monkeypox virus (MPXV) airline transmission routes. Before May 7th, 2022, most of the travel-related cases in various countries (UK, Israel, Singapore, US) were from endemic areas like Nigeria. However, since May 7th, 2022, MPXV cases have dramatically increased worldwide and the majority of travel-related cases were from previous non-endemic areas such as Germany.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Clinical symptoms. The main clinical symptoms of monkeypox include fever, severe headache, lymph node swelling, back pain, rashes, chills, myalgia, and severe weakness. (B) Rash distribution. Within 1 to 3 days of the onset of fever, the patient will develop skin lesions that affect the face (95%), the palms of the hands (75%), and the soles of the feet (75%), also affected are the oral mucosa (70%), the genitals (30%), the conjunctiva (20%). Data were obtained from WHO.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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