VALID: Keeping Space for Intersectional Identities in Health Care

Please note that this video is from July 22, 2022. The information presented here may be out of date. It is presented here to contextualize the name of the virus and the implications of seeing mostly Black individuals with the disease.

"Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms, but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal. Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.

Monkeypox was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. Despite being named “monkeypox,” the source of the disease remains unknown. However, African rodents and non-human primates (like monkeys) might harbor the virus and infect people." Quoted from the CDC