Will the outbreak of monkeypox in Europe and the United States be as global as the COVID-19 virus? How can we prevent it?
The struggle between human beings and the virus has always been going on. The COVID-19 virus epidemic has not yet ended, but here in Europe and the United States, there is bad news about the occurrence of the monkeypox epidemic! Especially in the UK recently, there have been reports of human-to-human transmission , which has caused some panic. The World Health Organization has also warned of a possible rise in monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and the United States.
Monkeypox is a very rare virus, so many people may not know it, but when it comes to one of his "cousins": smallpox virus, everyone may be familiar with it, a virus that once destroyed the ancient Roman Empire, COVID-19 has succumbed to it. Thankfully, we have eliminated the smallpox virus for over 40 years, and today monkeypox is mainly found in African countries and is usually rare in other countries.
However, the outbreak of this monkeypox epidemic has once again raised people's fear of such viruses. Will this monkeypox virus become a global epidemic? What can we do to prevent it?
Will the outbreak of monkeypox in Europe and the United States be as global as the COVID-19 virus?
The same virus, what is the difference between monkeypox and COVID-19 virus? The two have the following differences:
1) The virus composition is different
The monkeypox virus is a DNA virus, and the COVID-19 virus is an RNA virus. The two genes are different, so the transmission ability, host and mutation frequency of monkeypox virus are very different.
2) The host is different
The host of the COVID-19 virus is mainly humans, while the monkeypox virus is mainly rodents. The monkeypox virus was first discovered in monkeys. The monkey is actually named after it, because the monkeypox virus does not actually use monkeys as the main host, but rodents such as mice, squirrels, and rabbits.
The monkeypox outbreak in the United States in 2003 originated from a batch of animals (6 rodents out of 9 species, such as squirrels and mice) shipped from Ghana to Texas. After arriving in the United States, these animals were placed in a batch of groundhogs Around the rat, and the sale of the groundhogs led to an outbreak of monkeypox that infected 47 people.
3) Different routes of transmission
COVID-19 virus is mainly transmitted through droplets and close contact, while monkeypox virus can be transmitted through contact with body fluids, skin lesions or respiratory droplets of infected animals. Although monkeypox virus can be transmitted from person to person, the transmission power is very limited. However, whether the current monkeypox virus has significantly mutated (like the Omicron of the COVID-19 virus) has yet to be published.
On the whole, monkeypox virus generally does not cause a global pandemic due to its relatively weak transmission ability, especially compared with Omicron.
Smallpox vaccine protects against monkeypox virus
We just said that monkeypox and human pox (smallpox) are similar, and the two are cousins. Moreover, the pox virus is a double-stranded DNA virus with stable genetics and slow mutation. Therefore, the similarity between human pox virus and monkey pox virus can form cross-immunity. Our human smallpox vaccine can also prevent monkey pox virus, and some studies have shown that In practice, the human smallpox vaccine is effective in preventing monkeypox virus by more than 75% to 85%, so we can prevent monkeypox by inoculating smallpox vaccine.
But as early as 1981, China, like other countries, stopped the vaccination of smallpox, because smallpox has been eliminated, and vaccination is of little significance. And the imprint on everyone's arm is not the smallpox vaccine, but the BCG vaccine. As time goes by, people who have been vaccinated before may have fewer and fewer antibodies, and their immunity will also weaken. So if you want to prevent monkeypox epidemics, you can get the smallpox vaccine. But is it necessary? First, it takes time to produce a smallpox vaccine. Second, compared with the smallpox virus, monkeypox has a weaker human-to-human transmission capability, and the probability of secondary transmission between people is low. Effective blocking can bring the epidemic under control. There is no need to vaccinate the entire population.
Summarize
This monkeypox epidemic also reminds us that we are not the masters of the earth, and there are still many organisms that can threaten our life, even a small virus. However, we also have weapons against it, that is, vaccines and effective epidemic prevention measures, and for monkeypox virus, we need to pay special attention, stay away from wild animals, and respect nature!
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