Smallpox by Any Other Name

In recent years, exotic viruses like Ebola and hanta have captured considerable media and public attention. But what has really alarmed some public health officials is the recent outbreak in humans of a well-known virus called monkeypox. Closely related to smallpox, monkeypox causes nearly identical symptoms, and can be fatal. According to researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, for all practical purposes, smallpox has returned, but in a more dangerous form. 

Monkeypox is known to jump from animals to humans, but the infections have always died out quickly because person-to-person spread is not easy. However, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the country formerly known as Zaire), the largest outbreak ever seen of the disease suggests to scientists that transmission between humans is occurring more readily than before. Of the 89 infected people examined, 73% were suspected of catching the disease from fellow humans. 

The fear is that monkeypox may have changed, mutating into a form more virulent and more transmissible to humans. If this is so, it could turn out to be a nightmare. Smallpox only affects humans, but monkeypox would have an animal reservoir from which infection could continually spread.  Based on information in: Science, 7-18-97