image

Monkeypox infection, 1971. Lesions on the right hand and leg of a 4-year-old girl in Bondua, Grand Gedeh County, Liberia. She has been infected with a pox virus of the vaccinea-variola type. There are numerous maculopapular monkeypox lesions on the patient's skin, with a close similarity to the lesions seen in smallpox. The monkeypox virus is found near rainforests in Central and West Africa, causing disease in humans and monkeys, although its natural hosts are rodents. It is capable of human-to-human transmission. In humans it causes fever, swollen glands and a rash of fluid-filled blisters. It is fatal in 10 percent of cases. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/CDC/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)