Monkeypox Misinformation Is Spreading, Experts Warn—Here’s What You Need To Know About The Disease

So what is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, a less deadly and less transmissible relative of one of humanity’s biggest killers, variola, which causes smallpox.

Is it new? Unlike Covid, monkeypox is a well-known entity that has caused sporadic outbreaks in parts of Africa for decades, though these were largely ignored by the rest of the world.

What are the symptoms of monkeypox? Monkeypox can cause flu like symptoms like fever, headache, fatigue, chills and enlarged lymph nodes and most people will develop a distinctive rash, though the extent of this can vary and clinicians have reported symptoms that are milder or more localized to genital and anorectal areas than previously expected and some people have not had symptoms at all.

How serious is it? Most people recover from the disease on their own within a few weeks, though the disease can be fatal and some patients have required hospital treatment to manage symptoms, particularly the extreme pain caused by monkeypox lesions.

Where does monkeypox come from? Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, meaning it naturally circulates among wildlife and only occasionally spills over into humans, and despite its name experts have not discovered the animal reservoir for the virus, though many believe rodents are the most likely culprit.

So it has nothing to do with monkeys? Besides an ability to infect them, monkeypox has almost nothing to do with monkeys—it was first discovered in lab monkeys in the 1950s—and the World Health Organization has emphasized that the primates are not connected to the current outbreak.

How does monkeypox spread? Historically, people usually caught monkeypox after exposure to infected animals but the virus can also spread among humans, primarily through close physical contact with an infected person or contaminated items like clothes or bedding, or by the respiratory droplets produced when someone coughs, talks or sneezes.

What’s driving the global outbreak? The overwhelming majority of those affected by the global outbreak are men who have sex with men and data strongly suggests sexual contact is the primary mode of transmission, possibly through sex itself—both oral and anal intercourse—rather than the the skin-to-skin contact that accompanies sex.

Could monkeypox spread in other groups? The growing outbreak prompted fears the virus could establish itself in other populations, particularly women and children, but though there have been a small number of cases outside men, there is no evidence of sustained transmission outside sexual networks to justify the anxiety surrounding the virus among most people and experts believe the risk to other groups is low.

Aren’t we missing cases by focusing on men? The focus on gay and bisexual men, as well as initial testing constraints, sparked a flurry of misinformation suggesting that the virus is going undiagnosed and spreading silently among women and children, though officials dispute this and say they are testing, they’re just not seeing many positive tests.

Is monkeypox treatable? There is no proven treatment for monkeypox but an antiviral drug developed for smallpox—tecovirimat, also known by brand name Tpoxx—is available for some monkeypox patients and scientists are testing whether it can help people recover from the disease faster.

Is there a vaccine? Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos, marketed as Imvanex in Europe and Imvanune in Canada, is the only vaccine specifically approved for use against monkeypox in the world, though there is no data on its effectiveness and global supplies are severely limited.

How can I get vaccinated? The vaccine shortage means shots are hard to access in most areas if they are available at all and most jurisdictions are directing supplies to high risk groups like men or transgender people who have sex with men or close contacts of people diagnosed with monkeypox, as well as changing the method of injection to stretch supplies.

What about other vaccines? A live virus vaccine developed for use against smallpox, ACAM2000, can also be used to combat monkeypox and is in abundant supply, though officials have yet to roll it out owing to the risk of severe side effects and unsuitability for people with compromised immune systems, a notable drawback for a campaign targeting a group disproportionately affected by HIV.

Does my smallpox vaccine protect me against monkeypox? Many people will have already been vaccinated against smallpox as part of routine immunizations—the disease was eradicated in 1980—which could provide some protection against monkeypox, but this wanes over time and it’s not clear whether the vaccine will protect against infection, though it could still guard against severe illness.

How to protect yourself? Officials recommend all high risk people to get vaccinated —though it’s not clear how protective the shots will be and supplies are short—and for gay and bisexual men to limit risky behaviors involving sex, notably reducing the number of sexual partners, especially anonymous or group encounters, which data suggests is already happening.