Overview
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be spread between animals and people. Scientists discovered the monkeypox virus in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There are two types of monkeypox, clade I and clade II. Both clades of monkeypox can be spread, treated, and prevented the same way, but the risk factors and areas where monkeypox spreads can be very different.
In 2024, a clade I outbreak began in central Africa that spread throughout the region and caused travel-associated cases in many parts of the world. In 2022, unprecedented numbers of clade II monkeypox cases occurred around the world. Before that, cases of monkeypox in other places were rare and usually linked to travel or to animals being imported from regions where monkeypox is endemic.