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Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. The disease was first identified in laboratory monkeys, hence its name, but in its natural state it seems to infect rodents more often than primates. The disease is indigenous to Central and West Africa. An outbreak that occurred in the United States in 2003 was traced to a pet store where imported Gambian pouched rats were sold.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Update: Multistate Outbreak of Monkeypox - Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, 2003 )〕 Monkeypox virus is a zoonotic viral disease that occurs primarily in remote villages of Central and West Africa in proximity to tropical rainforests where there is more frequent contact with infected animals. Monkeypox is usually transmitted to humans from rodents, pets, and primates through contact with the animal's blood or through a bite. Human monkeypox can be difficult to distinguish clinically from smallpox (to which it is closely related) and chickenpox (to which it is not). == Epidemiology == In addition to monkeys, reservoirs for the virus are found in Gambian pouched rats (''Cricetomys gambianus''), dormice (''Graphiurus'' sp.) and African squirrels (''Heliosciurus'', and ''Funisciurus''). The use of these animals as food may be an important source of transmission to humans. Monkeypox as a disease in humans was first associated with an illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly ''Zaire''), in the town of Basankusu, Équateur Province, in 1970.〔(A human infection caused by monkeypox virus in Basankusu Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo - I. D. Ladnyj, P. Ziegler, and E. Kima )〕 A second outbreak of human illness was identified in DRC/Zaire in 1996–1997. In 2003, a small outbreak of human monkeypox in the United States occurred among owners of pet prairie dogs. The outbreak originated from Villa Park, Illinois, outside of Chicago, when an exotic animal dealer kept young prairie dogs in close proximity to an infected Gambian pouched rat (''Cricetomys gambianus'') recently imported from Accra, Ghana. Seventy-one people were reportedly infected, of which there were no fatalities. A second African focus of infection has been discovered in Sudan. No infected patients died. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Monkeypox」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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