This is why scientists are “not scared like crazy” about monkeypox

The outbreak of monkeypox has attracted the attention of anxious masses who have struggled to escape the pandemic of COVID-19 and are very wary of the following viruses that can disrupt our lives.

Fortunately, experts are much more calm about monkeypox than armchair experts.

“In the last few years, everyone has become a virologist,” he said. Paula Cannon, A real virologist at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. “We don’t have to be crazy and scared.”

Scientists are already familiar with the virus, unlike the situation with the new coronavirus two years ago. They know that monkeypox is not as contagious as COVID-19 and is not particularly deadly. They know how it spreads and how it can be stopped.

People like Canon are intrigued by the outbreak for very specific reasons. They want to understand why they suddenly happened in unexpected places in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

Thousands of people get monkeypox each year from close contact with infected people and animals, mainly in rural areas of western and central Africa. Survival rates are well above 90%, even in areas with very limited access to health care.

Cases were previously found in the United States and Europe, but are always rapidly associated with people who have recently traveled to places where the virus is endemic or who have interacted with infected animals.

The The last major US monkeypox outbreakIn 2003 Dating back to pet prairie dogs The virus was transmitted from an infected animal imported from Ghana to Texas as a pet. All 47 human patients survived.

A giant Gambian rat at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. The Gambian rat is one of the suspected species that brought the monkeypox virus to the United States in 2003.

(Douglas C. Pizzac / Associated Press)

Current outbreak, At least 320 cases have been reported Globally, it’s a little different. Few patients have traveled to areas known to have the virus or have come into contact with infected animals.

The first US case was documented A Massachusetts man who recently traveled to Canada, at least 26 cases were confirmed So far.

California First caseAn individual who says health officials have recently traveled to Europe, Appeared on Tuesday In Sacramento County.at least 7 other cases It has been confirmed in Utah, Florida, Virginia, Washington, and New York City. Specimens are sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation testing.

Most patients with current outbreaks are in Europe, including at least 90 in the UK.. Other cases have occurred in more than 12 countries, including Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, according to the report. World Health Organization When Global.healthAn international research team funded by Google.

Despite the stimulating name, monkeypox is more commonly found in rodents than in primates — a group of monkeys in Copenhagen happens to be. First identified animal To regain pox in 1958.

Within 1-2 weeks of exposure, infected people experience fever, chills, myalgia, and swollen lymph nodes. A few days after the onset of fever, the patient develops a unique pustule-like lesion. It usually starts on the face, spreads throughout the body, and scabs and falls. Patients are not contagious until the first symptoms appear and the disease usually progresses in 2-4 weeks.

It’s a less deadly cousin smallpox, Much more vicious virus It killed about 30% of the people it infected.Thanks to the vaccine, smallpox Declared to be eradicated all over the world 1980.

Ironically, its success has opened the door for similar viruses, such as monkeypox, to sneak up on human populations.

Vaccines that protect against smallpox also work against their weak cousins, but have not been part of standard pediatric immunity since the 1970s. I didn’t need them. As a result, most people under the age of 50 are not immune to this type of virus.

“Eradication of smallpox was, of course, one of the greatest achievements in public health history, but left the door open for other viruses to fill the gap. As a result, the population’s immunity to the poxvirus. Is declining. ” Ann LimoanAn epidemiologist who has studied monkeypox for the past 20 years and heads the UCLA Global and Immigrant Health Centers.

In other words, she said with a cruel laugh, “Good deeds cannot be punished.”

New Yorkers are lined up to be vaccinated against smallpox in 1947.

(Tony Camerano / Associated Press)

As the outbreak of the disease progresses, monkeypox packs much less force than COVID-19.

When SARS-CoV-2 appeared in Wuhan, China in late 2019, it was a brand new coronavirus. Scientists had to start from scratch to understand what it was, how it spreads and how it was contained.

In contrast, scientists have found that monkeypox does not spread much more easily than the coronavirus, and that existing vaccines are still given to people at risk of contact with the virus through travel and laboratory work. We already know that it can be effectively contained.

CDC Already stockpiled Smallpox vaccine sufficient to combat widespread outbreaks. There is no specific cure for monkeypox, but post-exposure vaccination seems to reduce the severity of the disease.

The question to public health officials is where the current outbreak came from and what the virus will do next.

Finding the answer is very similar to “looking back at a distant star.” The events that led to today’s infection happened a few weeks ago. Epidemiologists do not know what is happening now, whether or not the disease can spread further.

Even if you overtake an infected person in the office or on the street, monkeypox will not occur. Transmission requires close physical contact or long-term close exposure to the infected person or his bedding or clothing. If you dance for hours in a very close location, you can get infected with the virus. So is sexual contact.A significant number of cases currently reported Linked to attending two rave In Europe.

At this point, “the virus was lucky. We found some big parties and festivals that made it possible.” Jamie Lloyd-Smith, A UCLA biologist specializing in infectious diseases. “Then it flies under the radar because no one is looking for it. Which doctor in Madrid is looking at a person with a rash and thinking about monkeypox? No one until last week.”

Early sequencing shows that the monkeypox virus type or clade that caused this outbreak is similar to the 2018 outbreak in Nigeria. It doesn’t look like it has changed into a form that can be communicated more easily.

Monkeypox is endemic in rural, less densely populated areas, Limoin said. Does it behave differently among the moving population of the city? Do viruses evolve as they move through new environments?

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that these things will happen, which is why we monitor these viruses carefully,” says Limoin. “We need to prevent the poxvirus from settling in places that are not yet endemic.”

Vaccines and data are the most valuable tools for further spread. Such outbreaks are the reason why strong and continuous public health monitoring is needed.

“If we have a good public health monitoring system in place and can monitor them, we can pinch things in the buds and prevent them from spreading,” Cannon said.