Where is monkeypox most common?

Monkeypox is a virus transmitted to humans from animals with symptoms similar to smallpox patients in the past, but it is clinically less severe.

Monkeypox is primarily found in central and western Africa, often near tropical rainforests, and is becoming more common in urban areas. A variety of rodents and non-human primates serve as hosts.

Human monkeypox was discovered in a 9-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970, in a region where smallpox had been eradicated in 1968.

Since then, the majority of cases have been reported from the Congo Basin’s rural, rainforest regions, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with human cases increasingly being reported from across central and west Africa.

Several animal species have been identified as monkeypox virus susceptible. Rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, non-human primates, and other species are included.

The natural history of the monkeypox virus is still unknown, and more research is needed to determine the exact reservoir(s) and how virus circulation is maintained in nature.