About moneypox
Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease that is caused by the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox is from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, muscle aches and pains (myalgias), swollen lymph nodes, and a rash. View photos of characteristic skin lesions on the CDC website.
Yes. For most people, monkeypox gets better on its own without treatment and symptoms can be managed at home. However, a person with monkeypox can spread monkeypox from the time symptoms first appear to the time the rash is fully healed.
The rash and flu-like symptoms caused by monkeypox typically last 2 to 4 weeks.
Deaths from monkeypox infections caused by the West African type of monkeypox are rare. More than 99 percent of people who get the West African type, which is the type identified in the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, are likely to survive. However, there are conditions that put you at greater risk of serious illness and death from monkeypox, including a weakened immune system, pregnancy or breastfeeding, or being younger than 8 years old.
Typically, monkeypox itself is not deadly. However, in rare cases, monkeypox can cause complications including pneumonia, brain infections (encephalitis), or eye diseases, which may be deadly.
The recovery time from monkeypox is typically 2 to 4 weeks.
Yes, monkeypox can be spread from person to person. The monkeypox virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person’s rash, scabs, body fluids or through respiratory droplets.
Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms begin until the rash causes by monkeypox fully heals. Symptoms typically last 2 to 4 weeks.
Currently, monkeypox spreads in a few different ways:
- From direct contact with an infected person’s rash, scabs, or body fluids.
- Through respiratory droplets during close, face-to-face contact such as during kissing, cuddling or sex.
- By touching items such as clothing or bed linens that were recently used by someone with monkeypox.
- In rare cases, a pregnant person can spread monkeypox to a fetus through the placenta.
If you do not have monkeypox symptoms, you cannot spread the virus to others.