As the name suggests,this disease comes in human from animal,so it is called a zoonotic disease

It is caused by monkeypox virus from the family of poxviridae

It resembles closely with small pox

It comes from animal to human from direct contact with blood,body fluids or muco-cutaneous lesions of infected animals

The natural reservoir is not clear till now but most likely it is rodents-Rope squirrel,tree squirrel

Possible risk factor for getting infected is eating inadequately cooked meat or other products of infected animals

Human to human transmission occurs via close contact with respiratory secretions,objects used by infected persons or mucocutaneous lesions

Prolonged face to face contact may result in transmission of virus through respiratory droplets.

The incubation period is 6-13 days with a range of 5-21 days

Clinical picture can be divided into 2 phases- Invasion phase and eruption phase

INVASION PHASE -It lasts between 0-5 days and characterised by high fever,intense headache,body pain ,back pain ,profound weakness and lymphadenopathy.

Lymphadenopathy differentiates it from other similar viral diseases with rash like measles and chicken pox

ERUPTION PHASE-Skin eruption starts from 1-3 days of start of fever.

Rashes are seen more concentrated over the face and extremities ,less over the trunk.

Rashes may affect palms,soles,oral mucosa and most dangerously the cornea which may be lead to corneal opacity

Rashes evolves from macules to papules to vesicles to pustules, sequentially

These rashes may  be few to thousands,crusts and fall off

Rashes may coalesce and a large portion of skin may slough off

It is a self limiting disease and gets spontaneously cured after 2-4 weeks

It may be complicated by secondary bacterial infections,bronchopneumonia,sepsis,encephalitis,corneal involvement and loss of vision

The case fatality(mortality) has been reported to be very high recently and it is 3%-6%

Diagnosis is done by polymerase chain reaction of lesions.

TREATMENT is only symptomatic and only antiviral recommended is TECOVIRIMAT

PREVENTION-Small pox vaccination is very effective but not available now

Recently two doses vaccines for Monkeypox has been recommended but not widely available so personal protection is the cornerstone for prevention

REFERENCES:WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION(WHO),MONKEYPOX,19 May 22