Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 21, 2025
10:48
Vaccinia Reporter Viruses for Quantifying Viral Function at All Stages of Gene Expression
Published on: May 15, 2014
11.8K
Human monkeypox - After 40 years, an unintended consequence of smallpox eradication
Karl Simpson1, David Heymann2, Colin S Brown3
1JKS Bioscience Limited, 2 Midanbury Court, 44 Midanbury Lane, Southampton SO18 4HF, UK.
Vaccine
|May 18, 2020
Summary
Smallpox eradication has left most of the global population vulnerable to monkeypox, a re-emerging orthopox virus. Research is needed to understand its changing epidemiology and control strategies.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Smallpox eradication by the WHO led to decreased vaccination, leaving over 70% of the global population susceptible to smallpox and related orthopox viruses.
- Monkeypox is a re-emerging zoonotic disease, endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with changing human epidemiology and documented international spread through animal trade and travelers.
- The cessation of smallpox vaccination may have created an epidemiological niche for emergent or re-emergent orthopox viruses like monkeypox.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review available data on monkeypox and related orthopox viruses.
- To identify critical research gaps concerning monkeypox.
- To discuss optimal disease control strategies for monkeypox.
Main Methods:
- An ad-hoc expert meeting was convened at Chatham House, London in June 2019.
- Experts reviewed existing data on orthopox virus epidemiology and evolution.
- Discussions focused on identifying research needs and control measures.
Main Results:
- Identified key research gaps in understanding monkeypox.
- Highlighted the need for better comprehension of orthopox virus genomic evolution and epidemiology.
- Stressed the importance of in-field genomic diagnostics and effective disease control strategies.
Conclusions:
- Monkeypox represents a significant public health concern due to waning smallpox immunity.
- Further research is crucial for understanding monkeypox evolution, diagnostics, and control.
- New generation vaccines and antivirals may play a role in future monkeypox management.
Related Concept Videos
00:42Cross-reactivity
32.7K
Overview
32.7K
00:57Viral Recombination
24.7K
Cells are sometimes infected by more than one virus at once. When two viruses disassemble to expose their genomes for replication in the same cell, similar regions of their genomes can pair together and exchange sequences in a process called recombination. Alternatively, viruses with segmented genomes can swap segments in a process called reassortment.
24.7K
01:51Vaccinations
50.9K
Overview
50.9K
00:36Viral Mutations
39.4K
A mutation is a change in the sequence of bases of DNA or RNA in a genome. Some mutations occur during replication of the genome due to errors made by the polymerase enzymes that replicate DNA or RNA. Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase is prone to errors because it is not capable of “proofreading” its work. Viruses with RNA-based genomes, like HIV, therefore accrue mutations faster than viruses with DNA-based genomes. Because mutation and recombination provide the raw material...
39.4K
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
16.5K
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
16.5K