Medical Xpress October 6, 2024
As the Democratic Republic of Congo launches a vaccination campaign amid a flare-up of the sometimes deadly illness mpox, AFP looks at how the virus developed.
Several mpox epidemics have broken out, mainly in Africa, since it first emerged in humans in 1970.
The disease, originally named Monkeypox, spreads through close physical contact with infected people or animals, causing fever, muscle pains and painful skin lesions.
First discovered in a monkey in 1958, it is related to, but far less severe than, the deadly smallpox virus, which was eradicated in 1980.
The World Health Organization said in November 2022 that it should be called “mpox”, which it considers less of a stigma.
1970: first case
The disease was first detected...
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