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Volume 31, Number 8—August 2025

Etymologia

Mpox [em′poks] and Monkeypox Virus [muhng′kee poks′ vī-ruhs′]

Author affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Suggested citation for this article

Mpox, the infectious disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV), is characterized in humans by fever, lymphadenopathy, and a painful mucocutaneous rash. During 1958–1959, Danish virologist Preben von Magnus isolated the virus in macaque monkeys—hence, the name monkeypox. However, small mammals are likely the MPXV reservoir, not the aberrantly infected monkeys that received unwarranted blame as the host and created the misnomer monkeypox.

The derivation of the word monkey is shrouded in debate, antiquity, and complexity. The Oxford English Dictionary postulates Moneke referred to the son of Martin the Ape, a character in a collection of beloved European fables, Reynard the Fox, and the moniker might have accompanied continental showmen to England in the 1400s, but earlier variations of Moneke exist in other languages.

Pox, plural of pock, is Norman-French in origin from poque, meaning pouch. The diminutive form was poquet, or little pocket, describing the small scars remaining in the wake of various viral pustular eruptions, classically smallpox or syphilis. Plague and pox appear interchangeably in Shakespeare’s 1597 play Romeo and Juliet, in which Mercutio utters the famous and pejorative phrase, “A pox on both your houses.”

The first known human case of MPXV infection was reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. A global outbreak in 2022 was the first that involved widespread human-to-human MPXV transmission outside of Africa, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency. In November 2022, citing concerns of “racist and stigmatizing language” provoked by the original disease name, the World Health Organization renamed MPXV infection as mpox, but the virus name remains unchanged.

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References

  1. News  AP. WHO renames monkeypox as mpox, citing racism concerns [cited 2024 Feb 4]. https://apnews.com/article/who-renames-monkeypox-to-mpox
  2. BookBrowse. Well-known expressions: a plague on both your houses [cited 2024 Feb 4]. https://www.bookbrowse.com/expressions/detail/index.cfm/expression_number/666/a-plague-on-both-your-houses
  3. Cho  CT, Wenner  HA. Monkeypox virus. Bacteriol Rev. 1973;37:118. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Haubrich  WS. Medical meanings: a glossary of word options, 2nd edition. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians; 2003. p. 189.
  5. OUPblog. Wrenching an etymology out of a monkey [cited 2024 Feb 4]. https://blog.oup.com/2013/01/monkey-word-origin-etymology
  6. Rondle  C. The natural history of smallpox. New Sci. 1978;20:6802.
  7. Weiner  ESC, Simpson  JA. Compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 1971. p. 1838.
  8. World Health Organization. Mpox [cited 2024 Feb 4]. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/monkeypox
  9. World Health Organization. WHO recommends new name for monkeypox disease [cited 2024 Feb 4] https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2022-who-recommends-new-name-for-monkeypox-disease

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Figures

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Suggested citation for this article: Partin C. Mpox and monkeypox virus. Emerg Infect Dis. 2025 Aug [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3108.240211

DOI: 10.3201/eid3108.240211

Original Publication Date: July 10, 2025

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Table of Contents – Volume 31, Number 8—August 2025

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Clyde Partin, Emory University, 1365 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta GA 30322-1007, USA

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Page created: July 02, 2025
Page updated: July 10, 2025
Page reviewed: July 10, 2025
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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