Monkeypox is a DNA virus unlike coronavirus – here's what that means for the virus and us

By Naomi Forrester-Soto, Reader in Vector Biology, Keele University

Monkeypox is suddenly on everyone’s radar, having gone from a handful of cases outside of the area where it is endemic to over 1,600 cases in mere weeks. Given the horrors that COVID brought, it is hardly surprising that people are wondering if this is another pandemic in the making.

Monkeypox, despite its name, is more commonly found in rodents and squirrels in west and central Africa. Why, people have asked, is it spreading in areas where there is no natural animal reservoir? Has the virus mutated to become more efficient…

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