Topic summary
Monkeypox
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Mpox.
Nomenclature
In 1958, the pathogen that caused mpox was discovered following two incidents where monkey colonies were infected with a pox-like illness for research purposes. It was originally dubbed "monkeypox virus", and the disease "monkeypox", as it was first detected in laboratory monkeys, but the exact origin of the disease is not known. While it is believed that transmission from African rodents and non-human primates, including monkeys, is possible, there is little evidence that any monkeys are a reservoir species.