Abstract:
Monkeypox (Mpox) is an infectious disease caused by the Monkeypox virus (MPXV), a double-stranded
DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. Researchers first discovered the
virus in 1958 when it caused outbreaks of a pox-like disease in monkeys kept for research in Denmark. Human
disease was first identified in 1970 in a 9-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Orthopoxviruses can cause disease in humans and other mammals. Symptomatic infection typically results in
the formation of lesions, skin nodules, or disseminated rash. Other orthopoxviruses (OPXVs) pathogenic to
humans include Cowpox virus and Variola virus (causing smallpox).
