With the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration on Wednesday of monkeypox as a global public health emergency—the highest level of alert within the organization—following the spread of the disease from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries, panic has spread among many people worldwide. Some even began recalling the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world for two years, creating a nightmare for the planet’s inhabitants.
So, what is the difference between monkeypox and the coronavirus?
To begin with, it is important to know that monkeypox can lead to death, but its symptoms are generally mild. The disease causes flu-like symptoms and a rash.
The first human case was detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, and the disease remained confined for a long time to about ten African countries. However, in 2022, it began spreading to the rest of the world, especially in developed countries that had not previously recorded any cases.
### What are the risks?
It is difficult to determine at what stage the disease becomes fatal. Before the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, an imprecise mortality rate of between 1% and 10% was often cited. This large variation is due to the existence of two main strains of the monkeypox virus: strain 1 and the much less dangerous strain 2. The latter is the strain that caused the 2022 outbreak, with a mortality rate of less than 1%, which is also explained by the effectiveness of healthcare systems in developed countries.
### Completely Different Viruses
The coronavirus and the monkeypox virus are entirely different. The former is classified as a coronavirus, while the latter belongs to the group of enveloped viruses, making COVID-19 more capable of spreading and creating variants, according to the American Society for Microbiology, the largest and oldest organization specializing in virology, bacteriology, and mycology.
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus, spreading when an infected person breathes out small droplets containing the virus. Because COVID-19 spreads quickly through the air, it is difficult to control, as one person can infect many others simply by breathing. Additionally, infected individuals can spread the virus even if they do not show symptoms.
### Less Transmissible
Conversely, monkeypox can be transmitted through respiratory secretions, but it is not a respiratory virus, making it less transmissible. Monkeypox primarily spreads through direct (often prolonged) contact with an infected person, especially when touching the rash caused by the virus or body fluids. It can also spread by touching objects and surfaces that an infected person has used and that have come into contact with skin lesions for an extended period. Furthermore, sexual contact is one of the primary modes of transmission, and pregnant women who are infected can pass the virus to the fetus during pregnancy or to the newborn at birth.
### Symptoms
COVID-19 symptoms usually appear between two to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can include fever, chills, headache, sore throat, and loss of taste or smell. In the case of monkeypox, symptoms may take up to three weeks to appear after exposure to the virus.
### Pustules and Rash
Monkeypox differs from COVID-19 in that it involves the appearance of pustules filled with pus and a rash, which can be painful and itchy, often spreading on the face and limbs. Most people recover from monkeypox within two to four weeks. However, the disease can be severe and even fatal in certain cases, such as in individuals with chronic diseases, but the mortality rate is nowhere near that of COVID-19.
### Could Monkeypox Turn Into a Pandemic?
Health experts warn that if not contained, the virus could spread again across the globe. However, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control considers this risk to be low. According to the American Society for Microbiology, there are many differences compared to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, COVID-19 was a novel virus when it emerged in late 2019, and as a result, the world had no vaccines or immunity against the virus, which led to its rapid spread. The emergence of new variants of COVID-19, combined with the virus’s ability to efficiently transmit from person to person through the air, played a key role in its evolution into a global pandemic.
### Effective Vaccines… and an Unanswered Question
On the other hand, monkeypox is not a new disease; it was discovered several decades ago, and scientists have extensive knowledge about it, unlike COVID-19. Additionally, there are several highly effective vaccines against monkeypox, though they are not available in Africa. However, when the virus spread in 2022, developed countries were able to quickly launch vaccination campaigns.
The question remains: Will monkeypox spread globally after two years of an initial wave of cases? It is still too early to answer this question, according to experts, but the disease currently presents a serious crisis in parts of the African continent.
By/radwa sherif ✏️✏️📚