Monkeypox virus
species of the genus Orthopoxvirus
The monkeypox virus (MPV, MPXV, or hMPXV) is a species of double-stranded DNA viruses that causes mpox disease in humans and other mammals. It is a zoonotic virus belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus, making it closely related to the variola, cowpox, and vaccinia viruses. MPV is oval, with a lipoprotein outer membrane. Its genome is approximately 190 kb.
Smallpox and monkeypox viruses are both orthopoxviruses, and the smallpox vaccine is effective against mpox if given within 3–5 years before the disease is contracted. Symptoms of mpox in humans include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and swollen lymph nodes. The virus is transmissible between animals and humans by direct contact to the lesions or via bodily fluids.
The virus was given the name monkeypox virus after being isolated from monkeys, but most of the carriers of this virus are smaller mammals.
The virus is endemic in Central Africa, where infections in humans are relatively frequent. Though there are many natural hosts for the monkeypox virus, the exact reservoirs and how the virus is circulated in nature needs to be studied further.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Monkeypox virus” as species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6900886. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Monkeypox virus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.