Recent Surge in Monkeypox in Non-Endemic Countries: Concern for Public Health?

As the world learns to live with the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, another zoonosis caused by a monkeypox virus (a cousin of smallpox) is appearing in America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Australia, having spread from its traditional “habitat” in Central and West Africa. Since May of this year, more than 4,000 monkeypox cases have been recorded in more than 40 countries (includingAustralia, Western Europe, and North America) where the disease is not usually found. Nonetheless, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) has decided that this latest monkeypox outbreak does not warrant the status of a PHEIC event (a Public Health Emergency of International Concern[i])