There is no reason for great concern about monkey pox, says Kroes. “This is really a completely different story from corona. The monkeypox virus that is now in Europe very rarely leads to serious illness.” Moreover, it does not spread as quickly as corona, says epidemiologist Bruijning. “Unlike covid, transmission usually requires close contact.”
Notable outbreak
Nevertheless, Bruijning thinks it is right to be alert. “We really want to contain monkeypox, because no one wants another virus circulating in our society. We have never seen such a large outbreak of monkeypox in many countries outside Africa, which is remarkable.”
The outbreak is certainly striking, confirms virologist Kroes. †Monkeypox belongs to pox viruses and those are DNA viruses. Corona and influenza are, for example, RNA viruses. DNA viruses are much more stable and more adapted to hosts, RNA viruses are variable, ‘wilder’ and therefore cause epidemics. That is why it is remarkable that a DNA virus – monkey pox – suddenly seems to be better transmitted by humans.”