Epidemiologist Answers Common Monkeypox Questions

[Narrator] Monkeypox, a viral disease

with major outbreaks spreading in the US and Europe,

is posing a lot of questions.

So Wired spoke with epidemiologists, Dr. Danielle Ompad

to learn more about the look, spread

and treatment of monkeypox.

The biggest question people are asking is

what does monkeypox look like?

The first lesions that you will probably see

are flat and red, and they can be on the face

and spread to the arms and the legs, your hands and feet.

Now I will say during this outbreak

we have seen that people have fewer lesions

than they have in previous outbreaks.

[Narrator] The rash which usually

accompanies flu-like symptoms

begins first as flat and red.

Then it turns into raised in red.

Then pimple like bumps and finally scabs.

Sometimes the flu-like symptoms appear

before or after the rash, but for some

the rash is their only symptom.

It can look different, depending on your pigment

but essentially the features like flat bumps to raise bumps

to pustules, to the scabs that is going to be consistent.

And it's the color may change.

[Narrator] If you have monkeypox

how long are you contagious?

You are contagious for as long

as you have the rash until the scabs fall off

and new skin forms over where the scabs are.

That could be two weeks or longer

depending on how long it takes you to heal.

[Narrator] So what type of virus are we dealing with?

Monkeypox is an Ortohopoxvirus that's related

to smallpox and vaccinia virus.

Vaccinia virus is actually the virus that is used

in the vaccines for smallpox and monkeypox.

It definitely causes less severe disease than smallpox.

[Narrator] How does this virus spread?

Monkeypox spreads in different ways.

It can be spread person to person

through direct contact with infectious rash, scabs

or body fluids, intimate physical contacts, such as kissing

or cuddling or sex, whether or not there is penetration.

And it can also be transmitted

by touching items like clothing or linens

that previously touch the infectious rash or body fluids.

And then pregnant people can also spread the virus

to their fetus through the placenta.

[Narrator] How can we reduce our risk

of getting monkeypox?

In terms of protecting yourself

you might want to think strategically about

being in close contact with people

with skin to skin contact, you don't want to kiss

cuddle or have sex with somebody who has monkeypox

and you wanna avoid contact with objects and materials

that a person with monkeypox has used.

You don't wanna share eating utensils or cups

and you should wash your hands.

I mean, we should be doing that anyways

but you definitely wanna make sure

that you're washing your hands

especially before eating or touching your face.

If you, as an individual, see that you have a rash

you're not sure what the rash is

but it might look like bug bites.

It might look like chicken pox.

Make sure that you're not in close contact with people

and try to prevent spread in case it is monkeypox.

If it starts to be very painful, if it starts to spread

you might wanna go to your doctor

and be assessed to see if you have monkeypox.

[Narrator] How do you test for monkeypox?

In order to test for monkeypox,

they require a swab from a lesion.

As soon as you have lesions

you can start testing for monkeypox.

So it'll be about a week or two before you could test.

[Narrator] So who's most likely to get monkeypox?

Anybody can be infected with monkeypox.

In the current outbreak, the majority of people have been

male and they have been gay bisexual or other men

who have sex with men.

However, anybody can be infected.

And I need to make that clear because I want people to

realize that if they're around people who have

the monkeypox rash, they're at risk for infection.

People who are immune compromised are at risk

for more severe monkeypox infections, and may also be

at risk for complications and even death.

[Narrator] As the latest public health

emergency declaration from the World Health Organization.

Monkeypox has people worried, but unlike the beginning

of COVID-19, there are existing treatments in vaccines.

For most people the treatment options

are just to treat the symptoms.

There is a small supply of a drug called TPOXX

which is Tecovirimat, it's an FDA approved drug

for the treatment of human smallpox disease.

It is not approved for monkeypox

but TPOXX has been administered to some people

who have more severe cases of monkeypox.

And so that has been used, but not widely.

There are vaccines available.

Jynneos is a live virus vaccine.

It's administered with two shots

in the arm about four weeks apart.

And it takes about two weeks after the second dose

for you to have maximal immune response

there will be quite a bit of cross reactivity

for smallpox and monkeypox because

the viruses are relatively similar.

So the effectiveness for smallpox

was estimated to be relatively high.

And I would anticipate the vaccines will

be highly effective for monkeypox as well.