A Brief History of Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a DNA virus. It's the genus of viruses known as orthopoxviruses and it's a close cousin to the more well known smallpox virus that was caused by viriola virus, which is now eradicated. First noted to cause human infections in the early 70s in the Democratic Republic of Congo; has circulated in Western Central Africa since then. And it wasn't until recently that we had an explosion of cases and we're currently in a global outbreak of monkeypox.