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Opinion
Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli

What Is Monkeypox and Should We Be Worried About It?

Cases of a rare virus related to smallpox have been reported in the US, UK, Canada and Spain. Here’s what we know.

A monkeypox virion obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. 

A monkeypox virion obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. 

Photographer: Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Re/CDC

While we no longer worry as much about the severity of Covid, there are questions about whether the pandemic has left us more exposed to other serious illnesses. Massachusetts officials reported a rare case of a virus related to smallpox, called monkeypox, on Wednesday. A small number of cases has also been reported in the UK, Canada, Spain and Portugal. Bloomberg Intelligence senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli spoke to Therese Raphael about what we know so far.

Therese Raphael: How is monkeypox related to smallpox and how is it transmitted?