{"id":5596,"date":"2026-01-06T22:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=5596"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:31:13","slug":"monkeypox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/monkeypox\/","title":{"rendered":"Monkeypox (Mpox): Virus Disease Outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monkeypox<\/strong>, later renamed \u2018Mpox\u2019\u00a0by WHO, is a rare\u00a0zoonotic viral disease\u00a0<\/strong>caused by infection with the\u00a0Mpox virus<\/strong>. The monkeypox virus belongs to the same family of viruses as the\u00a0variola virus<\/strong>, the virus that causes\u00a0smallpox<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

Mpox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms but milder, and Mpox is rarely fatal. Mpox is\u00a0not related<\/strong>\u00a0to chickenpox.\u00a0ACAM2000<\/strong>,\u00a0MVA-BN,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0JYNNEOS<\/strong>\u00a0are some of the vaccines available for the Mpox.<\/p>\r\n

Background of Monkeypox<\/h2>\r\n

Mpox was discovered in\u00a01958\u00a0<\/strong>when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in\u00a0colonies of monkeys<\/strong>\u00a0kept for research in\u00a0Denmark<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  • Despite being named \u201cMonkeypox virus,\u201d the source of the disease remains unknown.<\/li>\r\n\t
  • However,\u00a0African rodents\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0non-human primates (like monkeys)<\/strong>\u00a0might harbour the virus and infect people.<\/li>\r\n\t
  • The first human case of Mpox was recorded in a nine-month-old boy in the\u00a0Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/strong>\u00a0(DRC) in\u00a01970<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t
  • Before the recent outbreak in 2022, Mpox had been reported in several central and west African countries.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

    About Monkeypox (MPX) Virus<\/h2>\r\n

    The Mpox virus has several distinct characteristics based on the structure and specifications of the virus.<\/p>\r\n

    Structure<\/h3>\r\n
      \r\n\t
    • The Monkeypox (MPX) virus has distinctive\u00a0surface tubules\u00a0<\/strong>and a\u00a0dumbbell-shaped<\/strong>\u00a0core component.<\/li>\r\n\t
    • It is an\u00a0enveloped virus<\/strong>\u00a0with a\u00a0double\u2010stranded DNA genome<\/strong>\u00a0that belongs to the\u00a0Orthopoxvirus genus<\/strong>\u00a0of the\u00a0Poxviridae family<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
      \"structure-of-mpox-virus.webp\"<\/figure>\r\n

      Variants<\/h3>\r\n
        \r\n\t
      • The Mpox virus is categorised into two types i.e.,\u00a0Clade I<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Clade II<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n
          \r\n\t
        • The\u00a0Clade I<\/strong>\u00a0type of Mpox virus has a\u00a0fatality rate of around 10%.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t
        • The infections that caused the recent outbreak of 2022-2023 are from\u00a0Clade II<\/strong>\u00a0(or\u00a0Clade IIb\u00a0<\/strong>specifically).<\/li>\r\n\t
        • Infections with\u00a0Clade IIb are rarely fatal<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n
            \r\n\t
          • More than 99% of people who get this form of the disease are likely to survive.<\/li>\r\n\t
          • However, people with severely\u00a0weakened immune systems<\/strong>\u00a0or younger children may\u00a0get seriously ill or die<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

            Symptoms of the Monkeypox<\/h2>\r\n

            The symptoms that people face with Mpox are:<\/p>\r\n

              \r\n\t
            • Rash:<\/strong>\u00a0It is a major symptom of Mpox as infected persons often get lesions and rashes. It may be located on\u00a0hands<\/strong>,\u00a0feet<\/strong>,\u00a0chest<\/strong>,\u00a0face<\/strong>, or\u00a0mouth\u00a0<\/strong>or near the\u00a0genitals<\/strong>, including the penis, testicles, labia, vagina, and anus.<\/li>\r\n\t
            • Other Symptoms:<\/strong>\u00a0There are other symptoms of Mpox that include\u00a0Fever, Chills, Swollen lymph nodes<\/strong>,\u00a0fatigue<\/strong>,\u00a0Muscle aches and backache,<\/strong>\u00a0Headache<\/strong>, and\u00a0Respiratory symptoms<\/strong>\u00a0(for example, sore throat, nasal congestion or cough).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

              Progression and Transmission of Monkeypox Virus<\/h2>\r\n

              The disease Mpox is caused by the\u00a0monkeypox virus (MPXV)<\/strong>\u00a0which was first seen in monkeys kept for research. Mpox can also be caused due to\u00a0transmission\u00a0<\/strong>from person to person or from animal to person. Still, the natural reservoir of this virus is unknown.<\/p>\r\n

              \"mpox-virus-transmission.webp\"<\/figure>\r\n

              Entry and Pathophysiology<\/h3>\r\n
                \r\n\t
              • Incubation period:<\/strong>\u00a0The Mpox virus can enter by multiple routes such as oral, nasal, or skin.\r\n\r\n
                  \r\n\t
                • Then, the virus replicates at these sites and spreads to the local\u00a0lymph nodes<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t
                • Further, the virus in the blood leads to spread and seeding into other organs.<\/li>\r\n\t
                • This period typically lasts for\u00a07 to 14 days (21 days maximum)<\/strong>. During this time, a person does not have symptoms and may feel fine.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t
                • Symptom onset:<\/strong>\u00a0The secondary viremia leads to 1 to 2 days of prodromal symptoms (period between incubation and the characteristic symptoms) including fever and swelling of lymph nodes first and appearance of lesions later.\r\n\r\n
                    \r\n\t
                  • The patients may be contagious now.<\/li>\r\n\t
                  • Lesions appear first in the oropharynx followed by its appearance on the skin.<\/li>\r\n\t
                  • Serum antibodies are detectable when the lesions appear.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                    Transmission<\/h3>\r\n
                      \r\n\t
                    • Close or Intimate Contact:<\/strong>\u00a0Mpox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including contact with an infected person as in:<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Mpox rash and scabs from a person with Mpox.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Saliva, upper respiratory secretions (snot, mucus).<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Areas around the anus, rectum, or vagina.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Touching Objects:\u00a0<\/strong>It is less likely but Mpox can get spread by touching surfaces which have not been disinfected.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • By touching objects, fabrics, and surfaces<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Clothing, bedding, towels, fetish gear, sex toys, etc.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Infected Animals:\u00a0<\/strong>Some animals can be infected with Mpox and spread it to people through close contact.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • This is more likely with\u00a0wild animals<\/strong>, specifically small\u00a0mammals\u00a0<\/strong>like\u00a0squirrels<\/strong>,\u00a0rats<\/strong>, and\u00a0mice\u00a0<\/strong>that live in areas where Mpox is endemic (such as in West and Central Africa).<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • It is possible that a pet could get infected and spread Mpox to a person during close contact.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Water In Pools, Hot Tubs:\u00a0<\/strong>There is no clear link between Mpox and water in pools, hot tubs, or splash pads.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • The Mpox\u00a0virus is<\/strong>\u00a0killed\u00a0<\/strong>in water at the\u00a0chlorine\u00a0<\/strong>levels recommended for disinfection in recreational water venues.<\/li>\r\n\t
                    • Mpox and Pregnancy:\u00a0<\/strong>The Mpox virus can be transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy or to the newborn by close contact during and after birth.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                      Monkeypox Treatment<\/h2>\r\n

                      The goal of treating Mpox is to\u00a0take care of the rash<\/strong>,\u00a0manage pain<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0prevent complications<\/strong>. Early and supportive care is important to help manage symptoms and avoid further problems.<\/p>\r\n

                        \r\n\t
                      • Isolation:\u00a0<\/strong>The persons infected by Mpox must be isolated and cared far away from other people.<\/li>\r\n\t
                      • Prioritising Vulnerable:<\/strong>\u00a0It is recommended for people at high-risk\u00a0health workers<\/strong>,\u00a0sex workers<\/strong>, etc to get vaccinated to prevent infection with Mpox during an outbreak.<\/li>\r\n\t
                      • Medications:<\/strong>\u00a0Several antivirals, such as\u00a0tecovirimat<\/strong>, need to be made accessible to the persons infected.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                        Monkeypox Vaccines<\/h3>\r\n

                        The\u00a0ACAM2000, MVA-BN, and JYNNEOS vaccines<\/strong>\u00a0are the available vaccines for controlling the current outbreak.<\/p>\r\n

                          \r\n\t
                        • The vaccines should be given within\u00a04 days of contact<\/strong>\u00a0with someone who has Mpox (or within\u00a0up to 14 days<\/strong>\u00a0if there are no symptoms).<\/li>\r\n\t
                        • MVA-BN:\u00a0<\/strong>It is a\u00a0third-generation live, attenuated,\u00a0nonreplicating,\u00a0modified vaccinia Ankara vaccine.<\/li>\r\n\t
                        • ACAM2000<\/strong>: It is a\u00a0smallpox\u00a0vaccine that is also a\u00a0second-generation live, attenuated vaccinia virus vaccine.<\/li>\r\n\t
                        • JYNNEOS vaccine<\/strong>: It is presently being used to treat monkeypox, and was developed using the\u00a0Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA).<\/strong>\r\n
                            \r\n\t
                          • It was employed in the\u00a01970s German smallpox eradication<\/strong>\u00a0campaign to immunise more than 100,000 people.<\/li>\r\n\t
                          • This vaccine is more acceptable as it has limited adverse effects than\u00a0ACAM2000<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                            Current Trends of Monkeypox<\/h2>\r\n

                            The\u00a0World Health Organization<\/strong>\u00a0had declared monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) but\u00a0later removed<\/strong>\u00a0this designation in May 2023.<\/p>\r\n

                              \r\n\t
                            • 2022-2023 Outbreak:\u00a0The current outbreak of Mpox all over the world is very concerning because:\r\n\r\n
                                \r\n\t
                              • There are around 91,328 cases of Mpox across the world.<\/li>\r\n\t
                              • In the USA, there were 55 deaths reported out of 31,010 cases of Mpox.<\/li>\r\n\t
                              • Cases in India:<\/strong>\u00a0India reported its first case of monkeypox in July 2022 with the patient having traveled from the UAE to\u00a0Kerala<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n
                                  \r\n\t
                                • Till July 2023, a total of 27 confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported in India, with 12 cases from\u00a0Kerala\u00a0<\/strong>and 15 from\u00a0Delhi<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                • Most of these cases were characterized as mild, and treatment remained largely supportive.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t
                                • Re-infection after vaccination:\u00a0<\/strong>In June 2023,\u00a0Israel\u00a0<\/strong>detected a case of monkeypox in a man who had been vaccinated against the virus but contracted it after travelling from Portugal to Israel.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                • Clade 9 Variant:<\/strong>\u00a0In September 2023, the ICMR National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) identified the presence of the Clade 9 variant of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in India for the first time.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                                  India\u2019s Strategy to Deal with Monkeypox<\/h2>\r\n

                                  The following are the initiatives taken by India to deal with monkeypox:<\/p>\r\n

                                    \r\n\t
                                  • Hospitals Identified:\u00a0<\/strong>The\u00a0Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW)<\/strong>\u00a0had proposed guidelines to tackle monkeypox in\u00a0three significant government hospitals<\/strong>\u00a0in Delhi.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                  • Isolation Rooms:<\/strong>\u00a0The government has also taken steps to make isolation rooms operational in the dedicated hospitals. It was then enlarged to include an\u00a0additional 10 rooms<\/strong>\u00a0in three more hospitals.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                  • Diagnosis:<\/strong>\u00a0Earlier, the\u00a0National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune<\/strong>\u00a0was the\u00a0nodal\u00a0<\/strong>centre for monkeypox diagnosis by\u00a0RT-PCR test<\/strong>\u00a0(same used for COVID-19).\r\n\r\n
                                      \r\n\t
                                    • Later, ICMR gave permission to\u00a015 additional institutions<\/strong>\u00a0to conduct the RT-PCR test for confirmation.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                    • According to ICMR, all of the recovered monkeypox virus (MPXV) sequences from India are\u00a0lineages of the A2<\/strong>\u00a0which is of\u00a0clade 2b<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t
                                    • Vaccines:<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0Smallpox\u00a0<\/strong>vaccine was reported to provide approximately\u00a085% protection<\/strong>\u00a0against human Mpox.\r\n\r\n
                                        \r\n\t
                                      • After the\u00a0eradication of smallpox from India<\/strong>, vaccination was discontinued in 1980.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                                        Kerala\u2019s Strategy<\/h3>\r\n
                                          \r\n\t
                                        • The State government has ordered the setting up of\u00a0screening desks<\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0thermal scanners\u00a0<\/strong>at all airports and ports for early detection of potential spreaders.\r\n\r\n
                                            \r\n\t
                                          • Hence, suspected cases would be\u00a0quarantined.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t
                                          • The health department introduced\u00a0protocols for hospitals<\/strong>\u00a0and healthcare personnel like private hospitals would\u00a0not refer patients<\/strong>\u00a0with Mpox symptoms to government hospitals.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                          • Surveillance medical officers<\/strong>\u00a0have been appointed in all 14 districts.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

                                            Way Forward<\/h2>\r\n

                                            The best practices followed by countries around the globe can provide a direction to take steps as part of India\u2019s future strategy. The following are a few measures such as:<\/p>\r\n

                                              \r\n\t
                                            • Vaccines for the Vulnerable:\u00a0<\/strong>In the\u00a0UK,\u00a0New York City, and\u00a0Canada, vaccines are currently being provided by\u00a0prioritising\u00a0sections of people as per their\u00a0vulnerability\u00a0to the virus.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                            • Training:<\/strong>\u00a0Providing proper academic\u00a0training for medical practitioners.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                            • Targeted Testing:<\/strong>\u00a0It is necessary to promote health in vulnerable populations with targeted testing and education that is compassionately supported.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                            • Preventing Stigma:<\/strong>\u00a0To ensure that public health measures are appropriate and non-stigmatizing and to avoid messaging that will push the outbreak underground.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                            • Involvement of communities:\u00a0<\/strong>The communities must be involved from the beginning in structuring the implementation of measures.<\/li>\r\n\t
                                            • Precautionary Measure:<\/strong>\u00a0The use of Condoms is encouraged to prevent further spread.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                              Monkeypox is a zoonotic viral disease caused by infection of Mpox virus. The virus is part of the family of viruses that causes smallpox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[873,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-5596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quest-level-4","8":"tag-monkeypox","9":"tag-quest"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19996,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596\/revisions\/19996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}