Introduction:

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease that was first identified in 1958. The virus is a member of Orthopoxvirus genus, of Poxviridae family. It infects wide variety of mammals and its natural reservoir is unknown.

Objectives:

To describe the important aspects related to pathophysiology, genome, pathogenesis, transmission, replication and immunology of monkeypox.

Methods:

A search of original articles, case reports, bibliographic and systematic reviews was carried out in VHL Regional Portal, PubMed, Science, Nature and Lancet. Reports from the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization on monkeypox were consulted.

Results:

Spread of monkeypox virus can occur through close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated objects. Once inside the body, the virus infects mucous membranes, epithelial cells and immune cells of adjacent tissues. The virus replicates and spreads rapidly through the blood and lymphatic system. T cells play an important role in regulating the immune response against the virus. However, Orthopoxviruses have developed several mechanisms to evade the immune response.

Conclusions:

The important aspects described, taken into account about monkeypox transmission, have significantly changed over time. 2022 global monkeypox outbreak presented a chain of transmission primarily among humans associated with sexual contact.

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