Monkeypox Virus in Pakistan

|Overview | Transmission | Signs and Symptoms |

1. Overview:

The causes of Monkeypox Virus are more in Pakistan as compared to other countries. Monkeypox Virus (MPV or MPXV) is a zoonotic virus with double-stranded DNA that produces monkeypox in humans and other animals. It associates the family Poxviridae and the genus Orthopoxvirus. Monkeypox virus is a human orthopoxvirus that also contains the variola (VARV), cowpox (CPX), and vaccinia (VACV) viruses.

Monkeypox virus is neither a close relative nor a distant relative of the smallpox-causing variola virus. Smallpox is comparable to monkeypox, except it has a milder rash and a lower mortality rate.

The monkeypox virus infects both primates and non-primate animals. The monkeypox virus is mostly found in Central and West African tropical rainforests.

Variation in virus virulence has been documented in Central African isolates, with strains that are more dangerous than those from Western Africa. Congo Basin (Central African) and West African clades of the virus are found in the two regions.

Animals, especially primates, carry monkeypox. Preben von Magnus discover the virus in crab-eating macaque monkeys that describe as laboratory animals in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1958

2. Transmission of Monkeypox Virus:

The virus can transfer from animal to human as well as from human to human. An animal bite or making interaction with the sick body of the animal can transmit infection from animal to person.

Both liquid respiration and interaction with germs (touchable surfaces) from an infected person’s bodily fluids can transmit the virus from human to human. The isolation period of monkeypox is 10 to 14 days long. Before the rash appears, prodromal symptoms include lymph node swelling, muscle pain, headache, and fever.

3. Signs and Symptoms of Monkeypox Disease:

Monkeypox symptoms in people are similar to smallpox symptoms but less severe. The fundamental distinction between smallpox and monkeypox symptoms is that monkeypox produces lymph node swelling but smallpox does not.

The time period of monkeypox from infection to symptoms is 7-14 days, although it can be as short as 521 days.

Symptoms are these:

Fever
Headache
Muscle aches
Backache
Swollen lymph nodes
Chills
Exhaustion

The patient develops a rash for 1 to 3 days (sometimes longer) following the onset of fever, which usually starts on the face and spreads to other portions of the body.

Before dropping off, lesions go through the following stages: