Monkeypax: Opportunities and Challenges

Human monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the Poxviridae family. Recently, the cases of this disease have been increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to review and update information in the field of history, epidemiology, disease transmission, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, vaccination, and prevention of monkeypox.

The present study is a review article that extracts related articles by searching the domestic database (Science Information Database [SID] and Magiran) and foreign databases, including Web of Science, Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar with the keywords of monkeypox disease, monkeypox virus, Poxviridae, monkeypox outbreak, smallpox virus.

This re-emerging disease is often endemic in central and western Africa. Since May 2022, an outbreak of this disease has been reported in non-endemic countries as well. According to the World Health Organization, in the recent outbreak, the disease was first observed in developed countries, especially in European countries, and often in men with sexual contact. Outbreaks in some parts of the world have raised concerns about another pandemic similar to COVID-19. Monkeypox is currently a significant threat to public health, so it requires urgent multidisciplinary collaboration between clinics and basic sciences to investigate the origin and chain of disease transmission, Rapid diagnostic techniques, vaccine evaluation, and treatment and control strategies.

The experiences from past pandemics, especially the Covid-19 pandemic, are among the opportunities that can be used to deal with and control emerging and re-emerging diseases such as monkeypox.