Skip to main content
monkeypox

monkeypox

2 5.3
A contagious disease caused by a virus that gives fever, rash and skin sores in monkeys, rodents and sometimes people
  • noun
  • /ˈmʌŋkiˌpɑks/
  • Specialized
: viruela símica
  • Health officials confirmed that a patient has been diagnosed with monkeypox after returning from an affected area.
  • monkeypox virus
  • monkeypox disease
  • human monkeypox

Examples

  • Although active disease surveillance has assessed monkeypox disease prevalence and geographic range, information about virus diversity is lacking.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Monkeypox virus is a zoonotic virus endemic to Central Africa.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Within about a month, 71 human cases of monkeypox in six Midwestern states had been reported to the CDC; luckily, no one died.

    Academic text (2005)
  • (Wildlife health experts and human health workers in central Africa have long associated human monkeypox infections with rodent and squirrel contact.)

    Academic text (2005)
  • In 2003, an outbreak of monkeypox in the midwestern United States revealed the propensity for transmission to MPXV-naive populations.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Recent reports suggest that human-to-human transmission of the genomic variability of the Monkeypox virus, DRC of MPXV is increasing (20, 21).

    Academic text (2014)
  • It was soon discovered that a prairie dog dealer in Wisconsin had let a number of his animals mix with rodents recently imported from Ghana that happened to be carrying the monkeypox virus.

    Academic text (2005)
  • From November 2005 through November 2007, a total of 760 cases of human monkeypox in the Sankuru District, DRC, were identified by active disease surveillance and confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (20).

    Academic text (2014)
  • The recent outbreak of monkeypox has raised concerns among health officials about its transmission to humans.

  • Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, rash, and skin lesions, similar to those caused by smallpox.

Surface Forms

monkeypox singular
monkeypoxes plural

Morphology

monkeypox = monkey + pox (transparent) = monkey + pox

The compound 'monkey' + 'pox' clearly denotes a pox disease associated with monkeys; learners can infer the basic meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Monkeypox comes from the two parts monkey and pox, because the illness was first seen in monkeys and pox means a disease with 'spots' or 'sores'. So, the name points to a pox disease linked to monkeys and to the skin rash it causes.