Monkeypox affects who?

Anyone can get monkeypox. In Africa, most cases are among children under 15 years. Outside Africa, the disease appears to be more common in men who have sex with men, but there are numerous cases in people who don’t fall into that category.

Monkeypox virus is a double-stranded DNA, zoonotic virus and a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus in the family Poxiviridae. It is one of the human orthopoxviruses that includes variola, cowpox and vaccinia viruses.

The virus is spread when you come into contact with an animal or person infected with the virus. Animal-to-person transmission occurs through broken skin, like from bites or scratches or through direct contact with an infected animal’s blood, bodily fluids or pox lesion (sores).

Variation in virulence of the virus has been observed in isolated from Central Africa where strains are more virulent than those from Western Africa.