Monkeypox is one of its types.. Smallpox viruses also include cows, voles, and camels

Have you imagined that there are other types of smallpox virus besides monkeys?

What vaccine might protect against monkeypox?

And why are monkeypox cases suddenly appearing all over the world?

Monkey, cow, camel, raccoon, and voles pox

Monkeypox belongs to a group called the "Orthopoxviruses" genus, which belongs to a family of viruses whose genetic material is of the type "DNA" (DNA) called Boxviridae, which is one of the largest viruses in size, and this group also contains the human pox virus, This is according to an article on the Arab Scientific Society’s website written by Dr. Muhammad Noreen bin Ahmed Al-Ahdal, retired professor of Virology and Immunology, Al-Faisal University, King Faisal Specialist Hospital.

According to the infographic with the report, there are other types of smallpox, including:

• Camelpox virus

• Cowpox virus

• Raccoonpox virus

• Field var pox (Volepox virus)

So far, Dr. Al-Ahdal said, there are two strains of monkeypox virus, one in West Africa (which is less virulent) and the other in Central Africa, and due to the nature of the DNA of this smallpox, the appearance of many mutants of it (as happened with the Covid-19 virus) is very rare.

He added that it should be noted that the so-called "chickenpox" is from a completely different family;

It belongs to the "varicella-zoster virus" family, and was named in the past for its similarity to human smallpox in the form of a rash.

Genetic tree that shows the genetic affinity of smallpox viruses (Arab Scientific Society Organization)

Monkeypox patients isolated for 21 days

In order to reduce the first cases of monkeypox in Germany, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach recommended isolation for at least 21 days, on the sidelines of his participation in the German Doctors' Day in Bremen on Tuesday.

And the minister announced today, Wednesday, that up to “40 thousand doses” of the “Imvanex” smallpox vaccine, which the United States has authorized to use to treat monkeypox, have been requested, noting that it is about preparing for the vaccination of individuals who have been in contact with infected people.

The minister explained that the vaccine can be used to prevent infection, and it is also used to prevent or - at least - delay the onset of symptoms in already infected people.

"I expect that we will have a reserve of the vaccine soon," the minister said.

Smallpox vaccine "Emphanex"

Imphanix has been approved for smallpox in the European Union since 2013. The drug is not approved for the prevention of monkeypox in the European Union.

The World Health Organization recently indicated that this vaccine is not widely available globally.

And the British health authorities stated that more than a thousand doses of the "Emphanex" vaccine were given to people who had contact with people infected with monkeypox since the first appearance of the disease in the country.

A spokeswoman for the British Health Security Agency said yesterday, Tuesday, in response to a query from the German news agency, that there are currently 3,500 more doses in stock.

Monkeypox is a rare disease with spontaneous cure

Agence France-Presse said monkeypox is rare and usually heals spontaneously.

As has been known, people with chickenpox usually recover spontaneously, and symptoms last for 2 to 3 weeks.

Severe cases occur more often in children and are related to exposure to the virus, the patient's medical condition, and the severity of complications.

The death rate from the disease varies from 1 to 10%, depending on the mutation (there are two mutations), and these rates are observed in areas where the disease is endemic, in countries with weak health systems.

But proper medical care greatly reduces the risk, and most sufferers recover spontaneously.

In the countries where the disease was recently discovered, most of the cases were mild and no deaths were recorded.

Why are monkeypox cases suddenly appearing all over the world?

Melissa Davey, medical and health editor for the British newspaper "The Guardian" has offered several theories about why monkeypox cases suddenly appeared, as follows:

Diminished protection from smallpox vaccines

Professor Raina MacIntyre, who heads the biosecurity program at Australia's Kirby Institute, told the Australian Medical Journal that weakened immunity from the smallpox vaccination may contribute to an increased outbreak.

It has been more than 40-50 years since mass vaccination was discontinued.

The smallpox vaccine provided the additional advantage of strong protection against monkeypox.

A study - published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases last February - warned of a rise in monkeypox cases, and also attributed this to the widespread cessation of smallpox vaccination, given the World Health Organization's announcement to eliminate smallpox. on the virus.

In some countries where the virus has been detected, such as Australia, mass vaccination against smallpox has never taken place.

Cases have actually been going up for a while

Epidemiologists noticed the increasing number of cases before the World Health Organization issued its warning earlier this May.

There were calls for better global surveillance and detection of monkeypox cases before the current outbreak, due to data indicating a resurgence of the disease.

Between 2010 and 2019, cases resurfaced in Liberia and Sierra Leone after an absence of 4 decades, and in the Central African Republic after 3 decades.

Since the start of the "Covid-19" pandemic, researchers and health workers around the world have become more alert to symptoms of viruses and are quicker to report anything unusual, which helps to detect cases.

Mutation probability

It is not easy to spread the monkeypox virus from one person to another;

One study found that 3% of close contacts of someone with monkeypox would become infected.

But the strange rise in the number of cases has increased the possibility of the virus mutating in a way that increases the possibility of transmission from one person to another.

More data and laboratory analyzes are needed to confirm this, however, it is only a theory at the moment.

In laboratories, the virus is sequenced, and we should know within days if this virus has changed.

The monkeypox virus may have exploited the ideal

The virus may not have mutated at all, but it seized an ideal opportunity to spread when all conditions were right;

For example, in a community of people in close contact with each other, where there were multiple opportunities for diffusion.

When monkeypox spreads between humans, it is through close physical contact with a person who has symptoms, and it can lead to the appearance of pus-filled granules on the skin, and contact with fluids from this rash can cause this rash, including contact with contaminated clothing and bedding, to the spread of the virus.