Monkeypox and Monkey Fever: Basic Understanding for Better Community Participation in Disease Control

Abstract

Currently, Monkeypox is a threatening viral disease terminology around the world that worries the global community after the Coronavirus pandemic. Beyond the woods of central Africa, where cases were first discovered, the geographic distribution of monkeypox cases has extended to other parts of the world including India, where cases have been imported. Under these circumstances, public confusion is noticed between Monkeypox and Monkey fever across southern parts of India. Monkeypox and Monkey fever (Kyasanur Forest Disease) are categorized as potential emerging or re-emerging Zoonotic diseases of humans and are fundamentally having clear-cut differentiation in their causative agent, clinical symptoms, and pathogenesis. Hence, it is important to clarify and eliminate the confusions which would have tremendous and dangerous public health impacts. As defined by the Global Burden of Disease Study, Emerging Infections (EIs) are those that have recently appeared in a population or previously existed but are now gaining in prevalence or geographic spread rapidly. A disease emerges from the interactions between rapidly evolving infectious agents and the environmental changes and changes in human behavior that provide these agents with favorable ecological niches. This review attempts to differentiate between the two emerging infections - Monkeypox and Monkey fever which are affecting a significant group of the population worldwide and provides a comparative picture of both diseases towards developing adequate awareness among the public and expects to complement the community-based future control measures.