Issued on: 26/06/2024 - 12:10

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, from the same family as smallpox, causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild but it can also be deadly. 

"There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's technical lead for mpox, told journalists on Tuesday. 

A dangerous new strain of mpox was spreading quickly along the eastern border of the DRC and was "incredibly worrying", scientists warned separately. 

A mutated version of the clade I mpox endemic in Congo for decades had fatality rates of around 5 percent in adults and 10 percent in children said biomedical engineer John Claude Udahemuka, who has been working on an outbreak in the hard-to-reach South Kivu province. 

The name monkeypox was originally coined because the disease was first identified in laboratory monkeys.^[3] This was subsequently criticised as a misnomer, because monkeys are not the main host or reservoir. It was also criticized because the name reinforced stigma about African countries as a source of disease.^[16]

After requests by a number of public health organisations and scientists, who argued that these issues were harming the fight to contain the disease outbreak,^[17] the subtypes of monkeypox virus were renamed clade I and clade II in August 2022. The World Health Organization announced in November 2022 that it "will adopt the term mpox in its communications, and encourages others to follow these recommendations".^[6]

Later today (2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET) the CDC will hold a COCA call for clinicians on the continually evolving Mpox threat. The clade IIb outbreak which was declared a global health emergency in 2022 ended after only 10 months,  but we continue to see sporadic infections around the globe. 

At the same time a far more dangerous clade I mpox virus continues to rage in the DRC.

Mpox is a zoonotic disease, which means it can spread between animals and people. The exact source of mpox in nature is not known, but it is believed that small mammals, such as rope and sun squirrels, giant-pouched rats, and African dormice may carry the virus in parts of West and Central Africa.

People can get infected with the virus through direct contact with infected animals, often while hunting, trapping, and processing infected animals or their body parts and fluids. Small mammals can carry the virus without symptoms, while non-human primates like monkeys can get sick with mpox and have signs of disease like humans.

What We Know About Mpox in Animals

• Monkeypox virus can infect a wide range of mammal species, including monkeys, anteaters, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, squirrels, and shrews.
• We are still learning which species of animals can get infected with Monkeypox virus. While we do not know if reptiles, amphibians, or birds can get mpox, it is unlikely since these animals have not been found to be infected with other orthopoxviruses.
• Not all animals have a rash when they have mpox.
• Infected animals can spread Monkeypox virus to people and other animals, and it is possible that people who are infected can spread Monkeypox virus to animals through close contact.
• Monkeypox virus can be found in the rash caused by mpox (scabs, crusts, fluids) and infected body fluids, including respiratory secretions, and potentially in urine (pee) and feces (poop).

What We Know About Mpox in Pets

• We don’t know for sure if pets like dogs and cats can be infected with Monkeypox virus, but it may be possible.
• People with mpox could possibly spread the virus to pets through close contact, including petting, cuddling, hugging, kissing, licking, sharing sleeping areas, and sharing food.

No pets or other animals were confirmed to have mpox during the global mpox outbreak that began in 2022.